New Beginnings
by McFreckles
Summary: Derek doesn't die. Picks up from Meredith's day dream when the police come to her house. Follows the general plot line of the series after 11x21 but with Derek. Mainly MerDer but with other characters.
1. Chapter 1

_Meredith is clutching the phone to her chest, desperately hoping Derek is going to call, when she sees Police lights come into her drive way. She opens the door to two police officers with sullen faces._

 _She walks into the hospital room and Derek turns to look at her._

"Hey" he says with a sleepy voice. Meredith smiles as she walks in the room. "What did you do" she asks with a slight mocking tone in her voice. "I did what I always do…except I almost killed myself doing it." She shakes her head at him a little; "don't make jokes I was scared." "Don't be scared, I'm not going anywhere" Derek says as he reaches up to hold Meredith's hand. "Come here" he says and Meredith slides into the hospital bed, resting her head and her hand on his chest so she can hear his heart beat. "I'm right here" he says as he rubs her back to comfort her. He can tell that she had been worrying a lot more than she was willing to admit. Meredith smiles and closes her eyes knowing that just for a few moments all her fears and worries can slip away and she can just be with her husband.

A few minutes later a nurse walks in with forms for Meredith to fill out and she gets up out of Derek's hospital bed. "I'll be right back" she whispers to him as she kisses him on the head. "We need you to fill out his insurance forms and the medical bill forms as well as all the patient history information." "Of course. Is there any way he can be transported to Grey Sloan Memorial soon? We are both surgeons there and I would feel more comfortable if he was being treated there." "I'll have his doctor come talk to you but his stats are looking good so it shouldn't be a problem." Meredith walks back into the front lobby where she left her kids with the social worker. Bailey is asleep in his stroller and Zola is still clutching the purple balloon in her hand as she sits next to the social worker. "Mama is daddy going to be okay?" "Yes sweetie he is going to be just fine" Meredith replies with a smile. She sits down next to Zola and starts filling out the forms the nurse handed her. She drops them off on her way back to Derek's room but is stopped from going in by an older doctor. "Hello Mrs. Shepherd I'm Dr. Cohn I preformed the craniotomy on your husband. His stats are stable and he is awake and responsive which are all good signs." "Its Dr. Grey and yes I can see that. I would like for him to be moved to Grey Sloan Memorial as soon as possible." "My apologies Dr. Grey, I have admired your mothers work for years." She gives him a flat smile but still has a look of frustration plastered across her face. "I believe he is stable enough to be transported, I will go find out if there is a helicopter available." "Thank you."

"How are you feeling?" Meredith asks when she notices Derek starting to wake up. "Like I got hit by a semi." "I thought we agreed no jokes" she says back with a little smile on her face. "Sorry dear" Derek responds to placate his wife. "Your stats are stable enough and they can control your pain with medication so we are transporting you to Grey Sloan. The helicopter should be here in a few minutes." Derek nods in understanding. "Where are the kids?" "They're in the waiting room with a social worker. Last time I checked Bailey was sleeping but Zola seems determined to see you for herself." Derek looks a little surprised but smiles and asks if she can come in. A few moments later Meredith walks in with Zola and Bailey in the stroller. "Daddy" Zola cries! "Hi Zozo!" "Daddy do you have a booboo? Mommy's a surgeon can she fix it?" "Sweetie they already fixed my booboo!" Derek and Meredith lock eyes and share a look, knowing the Zola was extremely intelligent for her age but there is no way they were going to tell her that he daddy almost died. "Oh good. Does that mean you are going to be home again?" "Of course Zozo. And I'm never leaving again."

A young resident named Dr. Blake walks into Derek's room. "Sorry to interrupt but the helicopter is here and I need to prep Dr. Shepherd for transport. "Okay Zola say bye bye to daddy!" "Bye bye I wove you!" Zola gives Derek a kiss and hops off the bed. Meredith gives Derek a quick kiss and says "I'll come check on you as soon as I get the kids home." Derek just nods in understanding, the drugs being used to control his pain keeping him pretty sedated.

After about 10 minutes in the car Meredith notices that Zola has gone back to sleep and decides it's a good time to fill people in on the situation. The first person she calls is Amelia to let her know Derek is being transported. "Hey Mer did Derek ever get in contact with you?" "Yeah he did." There's a long pause as Meredith is unsure of how to let Amelia know her brother almost died a few hours ago. "Meredith what's wrong did something happen?" "Derek is going to be okay, but he was hit by a semi." "Omg why didn't you call me sooner how do you know he's going to be okay?" "I just left Dillard Medical Center, this crappy little hospital with no trauma center in the middle of freaking nowhere. I haven't had a minute to call anyone until now because Derek is being transported to Grey Sloan. He had a craniotomy and his stats are great and he's awake and responsive." "Okay, I'll have a room setup so I can do a neuro exam as soon as he gets here." "Great" Meredith replies in a short, annoyed voice. "Meredith I'm sorry I didn't mean to.." "Yeah whatever Amy it's fine I'll see you when I get to the hospital." Meredith hung up the phone, deciding she couldn't handle being sympathetic with Amelia when she was about to fall apart herself. She then called Maggie and asked her to meet her in the lobby so that she could take the kids upstairs to daycare while Meredith went up to see Derek. Meredith was almost to the hospital before she realized she should call Derek's mother to inform her of the situation, but decided that that phone call would take a while and she would do it after she has seen Derek.

 _Meredith quickly walks over to the nurses station and a nurse points her in the direction of Derek's room, knowing what she was going to ask. Meredith stops outside the door as she watches Amelia, Hunt, Webber, Bailey, and Edwards perform numerous exams and discuss his Cts. Meredith waits outside the door until they are ready to inform her of Derek's condition._

Bailey walks out of the room first and spots Meredith staring into the room. Bailey grabs Meredith's hand and forces her to look away from Derek. "So far his labs are clean, his stats are holding stable, and his exams aren't showing any sign of damage. He's incredibly lucky Grey." "I know" Meredith replies with a shaky voice and turns back to watch Derek. "See, didn't I tell you not to freak out." Bailey says after a few moments in an effort to consoler Meredith. She turns back to look at Dr. Bailey with bloodshot eyes and tears threatening to spill out. "My husband almost died tonight. I almost lost him forever. Again." "I know" Bailey replies, knowing there isn't much she can say to make Meredith feel better. She takes her hand and rubs her knuckles trying to give Meredith some comfort in the face of all her fears.

 _Webber, Amelia, Hunt, and Edwards walk out of Derek's room towards Meredith and Bailey. They all have smiles on their faces which immediately calms Meredith down a little._

"He is going to be okay Meredith" Hunt says. Meredith just looks at him and nods. "Really Meredith you can stop worrying know" Webber says. Meredith cracks a small smile and just nods again. "I'm going to make a few phone calls" she says. "Page me if anything happens." "Of course" Bailey replies. Meredith and Amelia walk away from the little gathering at the same time and Owen turns to follow Amelia. "Are you okay?" he asks as he grabs Amelia's arm. "Yes. No. I don't know." Amelia looks up at him sadly. She sighs, "I'm so mad at Meredith for not calling me sooner because I was just as worried as she was all day and she waited so long to tell me. I'm trying not to be mad at her but I just can't." "It's okay to feel mad at her but you have to think of what it must have been like to be her. You've seen how upset and shaken up she looks, imagine getting that call that your husband is in the hospital and then finding out he almost died. I'm sure she called you as soon as she had a free minute."

Meredith pulls her cell phone out of her purse and calls Mrs. Shepherd. It's very early in the morning but she picks up anyway, knowing it must be important. "Meredith are you alright, has something happened?" Meredith can hear the panic and worry in Mrs. Shepherds voice because Meredith so rarely calls Derek's mother from her cell phone. The last time she had Derek had been shot. "Derek is going to be okay but he was hit by a truck." Meredith spends the next 20 minutes filling Mrs. Shepherd in on everything that the police and doctors have been telling her. "Well I'm glad he's going to be okay but I still feel the need to come out and see him." "Of course I totally understand" "Alright then, I'll get an early flight and see you in a few hours Meredith."


	2. Chapter 2

_Meredith is asleep in a chair next to Derek's bed. It has been a few hours since they arrived and Derek is still holding stable. After talking with Mrs. Shepherd and making sure the kids were asleep in day care, Meredith had sat down with the intentions of just watching Derek but the emotional strain of the past 24 hours had gotten to her and she closed her eyes knowing that she would need her strength during his recovery._

Meredith is woken up by the sound of the door opening. Maggie walks in holding her tablet, ready to check on Derek's vitals. She had been concerned with his heart when he first arrived but was now just doing routine checkups. It was work and intern could easily do but she wanted to be the one, especially since the patient is her brother in law and a good friend. "Sorry Mer, I didn't mean to wake you." "No it's okay. How's he doing?" Maggie smiles down at her sister, because nothing makes her happier than knowing she can give Meredith good news. "He is doing great. His heart rate and BP are both within normal limits. He hasn't arrested and there are no signs of injury to the heart." "Good, that's good" Meredith replies with a little smile. She rubs Derek's hand and looks down at him lovingly. "So I know the kids went down late last night so they will probably sleep in till 8 or 9 and I can have the day care page me when they wake up. I cleared my schedule for the day so I can take them home for you and watch them if you'd like." "Thank you Maggie that would be amazing. I think I'm just going to stay here with him today and I'll come home in time to put the kids to bed." Maggie just smiles and nods "no problem." She reaches down and gently squeezes Derek's feet, "feel better Derek."

Meredith leans back in her chair but never lets go of Derek's hand. She looks at the clock, and realizing that its 3 am decides to go back to sleep. After what seems like seconds of sleep, Meredith opens her eyes and sees a pair of piercing blue eyes starring back at her. "Hey you're awake! How are you feeling? Does anything hurt do you need more morphine?" "No I think I'm okay for now." Derek gives her a little smile so she won't keep pestering him with questions. "Where are the kids?" "Maggie offered to take them for the day." Derek doesn't say anything in response because he can tell by the look in Meredith's eyes that she has more to say. After a few moments in silence Meredith finally says "I almost said thanks Lex to her after she offered. I was just watching you sleep and the way she dropped everything to watch the kids and help us is totally something that Lexie would've done. And I almost called her Lexie." Derek squeezed Meredith's hand as she looked down at her lap trying not to cry. "Come here." Meredith climbs into bed and lays on top of Derek, resting her head on his chest again. He circles her back with his arm and rubs her back in big circles trying to comfort her. "Its okay to miss her, I miss her too. And mark. Somedays the most random thing will remind me of him and I'll feel it all over again." They just sit there, holding each other and cherishing the fact that they get to still be together. "I think they would've liked each other. Lexie would be all territorial at first but they would bond over Zola and Bailey. And over how I can't cook." Meredith said the last sentence with a small laugh, and Derek just smiled in agreement. They spent the rest of the day just sleeping in each other's arms, enjoying getting to spend so much uninterrupted time together. Around 5 o'clock Meredith got a text from Mrs. Shepherd saying her plane had just landed and that she would be taking a plane to the hospital. "Derek?" "hmm" "Did I ever mention to you at some point today that your mother decided to fly out to Seattle?" Derek's eyes shot open and he turned to stare at Meredith. "No you failed to mention that." "Well she'll be here in about 30 minutes…." "Meredith what did you do?" "Derek you almost died what was I supposed to do not tell you mother that her only son almost died?" "Yes!" "Remember when Amelia just showed up after you had been shot was so angry that you hadn't called her? It would be ten times worse if somehow your mother found out about all this and just showed up angry and pissed at me, as if she doesn't need another reason to hate me." "Mom doesn't hate you..." Meredith threw Derek a look. "I just don't want her to worry when she doesn't have to!" "I explained everything to her, it's not like I told her you were dying Derek." Derek just shook his head at Meredith and smiled. "Sometimes I just…" and leaned in and kissed her.

"Hey Mer I just wanted to let you know the kids are doing great and we had a super fun day. Zola kept asking a lot of questions about Derek so I promised her she would get to see him tomorrow. Are you still coming home to put them to bed?" "Yes I'm leaving the hospital soon I'm just waiting for Derek's mother to arrive." "Derek's mother is coming? How's Amelia?" "Well I know they don't have the easiest relationship but I don't think she's going to run and hide like a little kid…. right?" "I'm not sure, I would just let her know before she sees her mom without any warning." "Oh I see her now I gotta go!" "Hey Amelia!" Amelia picked her head up from the charts she was studying to see Meredith walking up to her. "Hey Meredith I'm sorry about earlier, it's just that this isn't the first time my brother has almost died and I guess I just freaked out a little." Meredith just stared at Amelia with a cold expression on her face while her eyes were shooting daggers at her sister-in-law. "I just wanted to let you know that your mother is coming to see Derek" Meredith said in her most Medusa like voice. "My, my mom is coming?" Amelia responded with fear in her eyes and a small tremor in her voice. "Yeah"

Derek had been resting for about 15 minutes since Meredith left him when he saw his mother walking down the hall. As soon as she saw him she rushed over to his bed and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Ma calm down I'm fine." "Derek Shepherd you were hit by a truck you are not fine." Mrs. Shepherd ran her hand through her son's hair and down the side of his face. "Aside from some broken bones, a few cuts and bruises, and a little internal bleeding I'm fine." "That's the opposite of fine in my book." The door slides open and Meredith walks in. "Meredith dear!" "Hi Mrs. Shepherd it's good to see you again. I'm sorry it has to be in a situation like this." "Oh don't worry dear I'll take any excuse to see my son and those beautiful kids of yours." Meredith gave her a tight smile while Mrs. Shepherd was beaming looking back and forth between Derek and Meredith. "Well I talked to Maggie and she's almost done giving the kids their dinner so I'm going to head home to put them to bed. Do you mind staying with Derek tonight? I'll be back in the morning and I can have the nurses bring a bed in for you." "Oh no worries dear this chair will do just fine." "Ma that chair is bad for your back." "Derek hush you need your rest. I'll be right here if you need anything tonight Meredith." Meredith gives Mrs. Shepherd a small smile and walks over to Derek's bed. She kisses him quickly on the head, says "I love you", and closes the door behind her.

 _When Meredith got home Maggie had just finished feeding the kids their dinner. They gave the kids a bath together and Maggie got Bailey ready for bed while Meredith helped Zola brush her teeth. They all sat on the couch together, Meredith reading the bedtime story while Maggie braided Zola's hair._

"Mommy when can I see daddy?" "Tomorrow sweetie I promise. He just needed to rest today so he can get better and come home soon." "I miss him." Meredith gives Zola a kiss on the forehead and tucks her sheets in. "I know sweetie." Meredith gets up from her position on the floor next to Zola's bed and walks away to close the door. She leaves it open just a crack so Zola can find the bathroom in the middle of the night. "Goodnight Zozo I love you." "I love you too mommy." Meredith walked into Bailey's room and gave him a kiss on the head, then headed back into the living room where Maggie was drinking some wine. "Hey I hope you don't mind I opened a new bottle." "No help yourself, that's what Derek built the huge wine fridge for." "How's he doing with his mom here?" "He likes to pretend that he doesn't want her to fly all the way out here but I know he really loves seeing her. He spent the first third of his life leaving with her or close enough to her to see her and the rest of his family all the time. I know he sometimes misses getting to see his family that often." "He has four sisters right?" "Yeah. I can't even imagine growing up in a house like that. Mine was so quiet." "Same here. I loved being an only child." Meredith looked a little sad upon hearing that and looked down at her knees. "Oh Mer I'm sorry I didn't mean to imply that..." "No it's okay" Meredith says cutting Maggie off. "When I was younger I sometimes wished that I had a sibling, thinking it might make my father come back or my mother would pay more attention to me, but I wouldn't wish that childhood on anyone. Knowing that your own parent resents you can make you a little dark and twisty inside." Meredith looks back up at Maggie with a half-smile on her face. "Well you have me now, no more dark and twisties anymore!" "Hahahaha I don't think that will ever go away" Meredith laughs as she takes a sip of her wine. "You should get some sleep you look exhausted." "You can crash in the guest room across from Amelia's room. I'll wake you up before I feed the kids." Meredith got up from the couch and put her wine glass in the sink. "Goodnight Mer." "Goodnight Maggie."


	3. Chapter 3

_Meredith spent the next three days going back and forth between Derek's hospital room and spending time with her kids. Mrs. Shepherd was very helpful at the house, making dinner for the kids and watching them when Meredith was with Derek. Zola and Bailey came in every day to visit their dad and color on his casts and read books with him. Once she went back to work she would check up on him between patients and surgeries. After two full weeks in the hospital Derek was finally being discharged._

"Here you go Dr. Shepherd everything's all signed and this is the prescription for your pain meds." "Thank you Dr. Bailey." Bailey smiles and walks out of Derek's room knowing that her good friend was going to make it. "Okay I have everything all ready for you and the car is out front, you ready to go?" Meredith had been fidgeting all day wanting to make sure Derek's homecoming was perfect. "Mer I'm fine. Just ready to get out of here and see the kids." "Okay" she responds with a smile. She knew that spending time as a patient was hard for her husband and that the past two weeks had been even longer for him than they had for her.

By the time they got home Mrs. Shepherd had already put the kids to sleep. "Thank you for watching the kids tonight ma." "I don't mind at all I love getting to spend time with my grandkids. I'll see you in the morning." She smiles at Derek and gives him a kiss on the cheek before giving Meredith's arm a squeeze. She and Meredith had been getting along since her arrival but she knew that Meredith wasn't the type of person to open up easily. "Lets get you to bed" Meredith says to Derek with a smile. "You know I have some ideas of what we can do instead of sleeping" Derek says with a smirk. "Derek!" Meredith responds in a slightly higher octave, a voice she uses only when mocking and chastising him at the same time. "How can you even be thinking about that right now?" "Because it's been two weeks since I've had sex with my really hot wife." "No" she replies while smiling and shaking her head at her husband.

"How's Derek doing?" "He's doing pretty well actually. He spends a lot of time with the kids now which is great, but I think they're going to be pretty upset when he comes back to work." Maggie looks at Meredith annoyingly and says "You're back to being one of those I'm so blessed people aren't you?" "Hahaha yes I am!" Meredith responds with a smile. "My life is pretty great right now. My kids are happy, my husband isn't dead and he's happy, and I'm happy. Feel free to eat lunch somewhere else if the pure happiness of my smile is blinding you." "Ha ha ha very funny." "I know" Meredith says with a smirk. They sit in silence for a few minutes just enjoying the few minutes of free time during their lunch break. "Do you know when he's coming back to work?" "His cast is coming off in two weeks and by then the bruises on his pelvic bones should be fully healed so if he's cleared then he'll be back." "That's great!" "Callie's been coming over to update him on their research project and he's getting back into it. I think this break is good for him, helps him adjust to really working under Amelia." "I thought he said it wasn't going to be a problem." "Well he's Derek, used to being number one or whatever so it's not so much a problem as an adjustment. And I think the fewer hours in the hospital will help with that." Meredith's pager goes off, "sorry gotta take this!"

 _Meredith and Derek are in bed kissing. Derek has a small cast on his right arm and Meredith still can't lean on him because of the pelvic bruising. It's about 10 o'clock at night and it's the first time since Derek was discharged that he's been awake when Meredith got home because of the pain meds._

"Mmm. So you can handle the kids tomorrow morning until the nanny arrives?" "Yes. And then I'll drive to the hospital in the afternoon for my physical" Derek responds between kisses. "I can push my surgery back until later in the morning if you need me." "Meredith I can handle the kids for an hour." Meredith gives him a look. "Seriously! Zola has been very helpful." "When did she grow up so fast?" "I know, she seems so mature and grown up all of a sudden." Meredith pauses and looks at Derek, "you know she's 4 right?" Derek smiles and kisses her. "I know. I just miss having her so little. She was such a cute baby." "I miss her baby smell." They just lay in bed for a minute looking at each other and thinking about baby Zola. "See this is why we need another one!" "Are you still serious about this?" "Yes! Are you seriously going to tell me you haven't been thinking about it?" "Oh I've been thinking about it" Meredith replies seriously but with a smile on her lips. "Really?" Derek says with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Really" Meredith says happily.

"So Edwards what do you think we do next" Stephanie looks up confidently from the suction work she is doing and confidently says "we release the clamp to resume blood flow and check for any leaks." "Good. Release the clamp." Stephanie release the clamp and everyone in the OR watches, praying that there are no leaks. "No leaks Dr. Grey." Meredith look up from the patient and smiles behind her mask. "You can close Edwards." "Thank you Dr…. Dr. Grey are you all right?" "What time is it?" "Its uhh 8:15 why?" "Dammit" Meredith replies. "Someone get me a bucket and take my mask off." "Dr. Grey?" says Stephanie as she looks at Meredith in confusion. "Get me a bucket and take. my. mask. off. NOW." A nurse rushes over to Meredith and puts a bucket in front of her face while another nurse removes her surgical mask. As soon as the top string of her mask is pulled off Meredith leans over and throws up into the bucket. No one in the OR says anything, but the older nurses and the anesthesiologist look away to give her some privacy. "This OR is Vegas. What happened just now does not get out to anyone. Is that understood?" Meredith looks up at Stephanie and glares at her. "Yes Dr. Grey." "You can go ahead and close Edwards." Meredith slowly walks out of the OR with a nurse following behind her.

Alex is standing at the nurses station by the OR filling out patient charts when Meredith walks up behind him and grabs his arm. "I need a favor." "No, no more tequila. I have plans with Jo tonight and I think you've actually destroyed my liver." Meredith glares at him and gives him that disapproving look when he says something he shouldn't. "Not that kind of favor. Just come on." Meredith drags Alex into an exam room and jumps up on the table. She leans into him and says in a quiet voice "I need you to take my blood." Alex just looks at her for a second and replies "oh" and shrugs before grabbing a supplies basket from the counter. He sticks her with the needle and she grimaces but neither of them saying anything. Alex stands up to put her blood in a bag for the lab and suddenly looks Meredith up and down. "What?" "You think you're pregnant." Meredith looks shocked for a second and then starts stammering "what, I, uh, no I don't think, I just, you know, it's just, why would you even think that?" "Well your breath smells like vomit and since you never get sick I'm guessing morning sickness and when you spend enough time in peds you get this sixth sense about this kind of thing." Meredith gives him another look, this time more incredulous than condescending. "I'm telling you I just know." There's a long pause before Meredith takes a deep breath and says "fine I think I might be pregnant, happy? I've been throwing up at the same time every morning for the past week and the last time this happened Bailey popped out 9 months later." Alex just smiled down at his best friend. "I have to tell Christina now" Meredith says while scowling at him. "Why? She's on the other part of the world." "Because she'll kill me if she finds out that you knew before she did." "You two make no sense." Meredith just pulls her phone out of her scrubs and dials Christina's number and puts her on speaker. "Hey Mer what's up?" "I think I might be pregnant. Again." There's a long pause before Christina finally says "you think?" "Well I just had Alex take my blood so I can know for sure but I'm pretty positive. I'm only telling you because he guessed and I don't want to jinx it." "Evil spawn found out before me?" "Thirty seconds before you Yang don't get your panties in a twist." "See, this is why I called" Meredith said before glaring at Alex, while he just innocently shrugged his shoulders. "Wait why would you jinx it?" Meredith looked down sheepishly before saying "well last time I told one person before telling Derek there was a mass shooting and it turned out I have a hostile uterus." "Oh Mer telling someone before Derek doesn't mean" "I just want to cover my bases" Meredith says cutting Christina off. Alex looks at Meredith with sympathy and Christina waits a minute before saying "well let me know when you get the lab results back so I can figure out if I need to book a flight to come visit my next god-child." Meredith smiles a little and says "will do. Bye Christina talk to you later." "Bye Mer bye evil spawn." "Bye yang." Meredith hangs up and smiles sadly at Alex. "Come on let's get your blood to the lab. The sooner you know the sooner you can tell Shepherd."

Meredith stands in the doorway to Amelia's room in her dream house when Derek comes up from behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. "What are you doing?" Derek kisses Meredith on the head and she leans into his embrace. "Just thinking of how we can redecorate this room?" "Why would we need to redecorate? This is Amelia's room." "Well she's probably going to move in with Owen soon." Meredith turns around, kisses Derek quickly and walks around the corner to the kitchen. Derek stands on the other side of the island counter just looking at Meredith, knowing she has more to say. "I just think it's time we do something else with that room, something more kid friendly." "But the kids already have a playroom." "Yeah I know it's just….never mind I got you this" Meredith says as she pulls out a small box. Derek looks at her not understanding why he's being given a gift and Meredith says "just open it." Meredith fidgets with her hands while Derek slowly unwraps the little box. He takes the top off and just stares into the box for a minute before looking up at Meredith with a huge smile on his face. "Are you really?" He asks as if he's too excited/nervous to say it. "Yeah" Meredith replies with a huge smile on her face. "We're having another baby!" Derek exclaims as he walks over to Meredith and envelops her in a hug. "I know" she says with a huge smile on her face. They kiss passionately, each so in love with the other and so excited over the fact that they're having another baby. Meredith breaks the kiss first and looks up at Derek. "I'm only three weeks so it's still early and" "Meredith stop worrying everything will be perfect" Derek said cutting her off and kissing her again. Meredith laughed and for the first time in weeks she felt truly happy.


	4. Chapter 4

_It's Easter weekend and it's been two weeks since Meredith found out she's pregnant. Derek has a week left until Torres agreed to take his cast off and his bruises have almost fully healed. They decided to host an Easter egg hunt at their house since they have such a huge yard and invited Miranda and Ben with Tuck and Callie and Arizona with Sofia. Since they are all scheduled to work that day the hunt is early in the morning but they joke that since they are all attendings they can have their residents do their rounds._

"How are you feeling?" "I'm fine Derek, really. No more morning sickness and no swollen ankles yet." "Good" Derek responds kissing Meredith quickly. They're both in the kitchen putting together breakfast for the adults while Miranda, Ben, Callie, and Arizona watch the kids try to find the eggs. "I'm going to go take pictures of the kids. There will only be a few more of these before Zola is refusing to participate." "Our little diva" Meredith exclaims with a smile. "I'll meet you outside I just want to finish this tray." Derek gives her a kiss and heads out to the porch. Meredith stands in the kitchen watching her husband running around with all the kids and taking pictures, and lowers a hand to her stomach. She stands there smiling for a few minutes before Callie walks inside and says "what are you grinning at?" "My ridiculously corny husband" Meredith replies with a smile. "I think he might be having more fun than any of the kids!" "I know!" Meredith says with a smile. Callie looks very thoughtful for a moment before saying "can you imagine what our lives would be like if I was still married to George and Derek had stayed with Addison and oh god" she stops mid-sentence to smile "if Christina was still with Burke?" "Completely and utterly different, but I wouldn't have our lives any other way" Meredith says with a small smile. "Here let me help you carry those outside." "Great thanks you can carry the fruit salad." Meredith and Callie walk out to the porch to join the other adults in watching the kids hunt for eggs. Bailey walks over to where Meredith is standing watching Derek and says "thank you for having us over Grey this was a great idea." "It was all Derek he loves doing stuff like this for the kids." "You know if someone had told me that I would one day let my child play with the spawn of my intern Meredith Grey I would have laughed in their face." Miranda looked up at Meredith and smiled. "I'm proud of you Grey, you've come a long way and I know your mother would be proud." "I'm sure she wouldn't approve of me missing OR time to host an Easter egg hunt, but thank you." They both laugh a little and turn to watch their kids. Bailey runs up to Meredith and shoves his basket in front of her saying "eggs mama eggs!" "Good job Bailey you got so many eggs! Can you go find me some more" Meredith asks in the voice she uses only with her kids. "yes yes I go mama!" Meredith gives him a quick hug before sending him off running back to the grass.

 _Meredith and Derek are both bustling about the kitchen the following morning. The kids are getting dressed with the nanny who watches them during the day. Zola now goes to pre-school for a few hours in the morning and Bailey only goes to the hospital day care two days a week._

"Derek do you really think it's important to come back to work today?" "Yes, I do." "Your cast comes off next week why not wait till then?" "Because I can consult, and teach, and work on my research with Torres." Derek kisses Meredith on the cheek and grabs his coffee from the kitchen counter. "Good morning! Where are the kids?" "Well hello to you to Amelia? Where have you been every night this week" Meredith questions her sister in law as she walks into the house. Derek and Amy exchange a look and Meredith just stands there with her mouth open for a second before saying "if you say with Owen I will…. just don't answer the question." "Ok" Amelia responds before grabbing a bagel and sitting down at the island. "But seriously where are the kids?" "The nanny is getting them dressed" Derek tells her before grabbing his briefcase. "Mer I'll meet you in the car, 5 minutes?" "I'll be there in 2" she calls after him as she grabs her coffee. "Do you need a ride to the hospital?" Meredith asks Amelia on her way out the door. "No I'm good I need to shower and get fresh clothes. I'll see you there." "Do you still have that optic-glioma surgery this afternoon?" "Yeah OR 4 at 1:30 if you still want to scrub in." "I might only have time to watch from the gallery but thanks. I just like seeing an occasional glioma since I spent so much time on that clinical trial."

 _Derek walked up to Meredith who was standing in front of the OR board nurses station filling out a patient chart on her tablet. She had paged him moments before, and as he walked up he couldn't help but think how hot his wife is._

"You paged." "I did. How would you like to watch Amelia's surgery from inside the OR?" Meredith looks at Derek and smiles mischievously. "Who are you planning on murdering? Do I need to call Christina for back up?" Derek teases her knowing how easy it is to get her excited. "No! She's operating on an optic-glioma and she's using the Shepherd method. I thought it would be fun to see a fellow surgeon use our research to save a life." Derek leans down and kisses Meredith. "I would love to. Just promise me you'll stop me if I try to tell Amy how to do the injections." Meredith laughs and grabs his hand to drag him into OR 4. "Don't worry I will."


	5. Chapter 5

_Meredith and Derek are in an exam room in their OB-GYN's office. It is their 8 week appointment and once again Derek is more excited than Meredith. She isn't as cold as she was last time but as usual she is being more pessimistic than Derek. Derek got his cast taken off two weeks ago and he got the all clear to come back to work officially. He has to do physical therapy until his hand is strong enough again but Torres is confident he'll make a full recovery._

"So I was thinking we could have Amy and Maggie over for dinner tonight and we could tell them." "Ughh it's still a little early Derek." "Meredith, we have Bailey and I know you think of him as the miracle baby but your uterus clearly isn't that hostile anymore." "I know, I would just feel more comfortable if we waited just in case something goes wrong because it still can. And if you want someone to talk to about it Alex and Christina already know." "Oh so you can people but I can't?" Derek looks down at Meredith with a clearly frustrated face on. "I didn't plan on telling them Alex just figured it out before I even knew for sure I was pregnant and then I had to tell Christina otherwise she would never forgive me that Alex knew before she did." Derek just looks at Meredith disapprovingly but the doctor walks in before he can chastise her. "Okay Meredith move down a little. This is going to be a little cold." The doctor fiddles with the ultrasound and Derek grabs hold of Meredith's hand, giving her an encouraging squeeze. "Are there still things we should be doing to support this pregnancy even after the success of the last one?" Derek asks. "Yes, even though you had Bailey your uterus still isn't a great place for a baby but it looks to me like this baby is doing fine!" The sound of the baby's heartbeat fills the exam room and Derek and Meredith both smile at the grainy image this time. Meredith looks away after a second because she knows she shouldn't get her hopes up but she keeps smiling anyways.

They are driving back to the hospital after their ultrasound appointment. Meredith has one hand on Derek's thigh and whenever they reach a red light Derek turns and smiles at her. "Okay fine we can tell Amelia and Maggie. But you have to wait until my first trimester is over and we're not doing some big production." Derek turns to look at Meredith and smiles even wider than before. "We can do a small dinner at the house, I promise." Meredith just looks at him slyly and says "you're going to have to make this up to me with a lot of sex. Hot shower sex." "Yes dear" Derek replies. "When are we going to tell Zola and Bailey?" "I'm not sure" Derek answers. "Last time Zola was too young to understand but this time she might figure it out" he finishes. "Maybe it might be better to not make a big deal out of it so she won't think we're replacing her." "I don't think she'll think that do you?" Derek asks. Zola is his little princess and he constantly worries about her. "I read that you have to be really sensitive to adopted kids when having biological children so I think we should tell her first. It might make her feel special" Meredith says. "That's true" Derek replies, looking concerned. "Don't worry we'll figure it out" Meredith says to him. She can tell what he's thinking and feels the same way. They don't want Zola to feel like she's being replaced or forgotten especially since she is the only black child. "I think we're going to have to plan a lot more princess tea parties!" Derek says laughing.

 _The following morning is Derek's first day back in surgery. He did extensive physical therapy for two weeks before getting the all clear from Torres. Meredith, Maggie, and Alex are watching him in the gallery. The room is packed with interns and other surgeons who are all very excited to see the Derek Shepherd back in surgery._

"Look Bailey there's your daddy! He's about to take off the skull flap. Can you say skull flap?" Meredith holds Bailey up in front of her and bounces him up and down while he babbles and says something that sounds more like "full fap". Alex walks in and sits down next to Meredith who has Maggie on her other side. "How's it going" he asks before taking a bite of his sandwich. "Great" Meredith says with a smile. "He just took off the skull flap and now he is going to start resecting the tumor, isn't that right Bailey" she says. Bailey claps his hands and smiles at Meredith and Alex. Alex smiles and tickles Bailey's arm which makes him laugh the cutest little baby laugh. "Uh Meredith he is just so precious! Do you think you and Derek are going to have another extremely adorable baby or did you decide to stop at 2" Maggie asks. Alex and Meredith exchange a look before Meredith puts Bailey back down into her lap and says "we've been talking about a third but I'm not sure. If it happens it happens." Meredith has a weird look on her face which Maggie notices and she says "what aren't you telling me?" 'Nothing!" Meredith replies. Alex cuts in before Meredith can embarrass herself which he knows she always does when she starts rambling. "She's just scared because last time she almost died having a c-section during a power outage." Meredith turns and glares at Alex. "You what?" Maggie asks sounding very concerned. "It was nothing" Meredith replies. "I had to have an emergency c during a super storm that caused the power outage but because I had fallen down the stairs earlier that day I also needed a splenectomy" Meredith says shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal. "What she isn't telling you is that her intern had to do the splenectomy while she was awake on the table and she almost bled out" Alex says in his smart-ass voice. "Oh my god Mer I am so sorry that must have been so scary" Maggie says with obvious sympathy in her voice. "It was nothing" Meredith says with a tight smile before turning to glare at Alex again. "I'm going to take him back up to day-care now, Maggie will you page me when you get the labs back on Mrs. Williams?" "Of course" she replies. After Meredith leaves the gallery Maggie turns to Alex. "Did she really almost die giving birth" she asks. "Yeah" Alex says matter of factly. "Oh and a couple other times too." Maggie looks horrified while Alex just smiles his idiot smile and gets up, leaving Maggie yelling after him saying "what other times?"

"You were amazing in there" Meredith says to Derek as she comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist. He turns around and kisses her before saying "is there a possibility you want to reward me for my amazing tumor resection?" Meredith laughs and then grabs his arm, dragging him into an on-call room. She pushes him up against the door and passionately kisses him. He starts kissing her on the cheek and moves down her neck causing her to moan. "Dr. Shepherd" Meredith says in a seductive voice. "What talented hands you have!" Derek laughs at her comment and moves his hands up her shirt and takes her scrub top off. He then takes his shirt off while she starts kissing the top of his chest and his neck. He picks her up and carries her to a bed and kisses her deeply before moving down her body. Just as he's about to take her pants off he notices her stomach looks a tiny bit bigger than it normally does. He looks up at her and stares into her eyes lovingly for a moment, keeping his hands over where their baby is. "I love you Meredith Grey" he says. His voice is so calm and sure that it makes her feel like she's falling in love with him all over again. She pulls him up so she can kiss him and says back "and I love you Derek Shepherd." He kisses her passionately before moving his hands down her body again.

An hour later they're lying in bed together while Derek rubs his hand up and down Meredith's stomach. Meredith snuggles into him, pushing her back up against his stomach. "Earlier today I almost got Bailey to say skull flap" Meredith says proudly. "Really" Derek responds in an amused voice. "I think we can start teaching him how to suture" Meredith says laughing. Derek kisses her neck and she rolls onto her back so she can look at him. She looks thoughtful so Derek doesn't say anything, knowing that she'll talk when she's ready. "I was reminded today that I almost died when Bailey was born. And I'm just being realistic because bad things happen to us and we have two kids now and" "And nothing is going to happen this time because you won't be taking the stairs." Derek runs is hand over Meredith's cheek to try and calm her down. He gives her a little smile with the faint hope that it will cheer her up but it doesn't work and she says "Derek I'm serious I don't want it to be just you and the kids because something is bound to happen to me again." He looks down at her sadly for a moment before kissing her and saying "lets worry about that when the time comes. For now, just enjoy being pregnant."


	6. Chapter 6

_Meredith, Derek, Arizona, Callie, Jackson, Bailey, and Richard are having a board meeting. Meredith is two days away from starting her second trimester. Amelia has officially moved in with Owen in their new apartment near the hospital._

"So all the numbers look good, there's just one more thing I want to talk to everyone about" Jackson says as Arizona and Meredith start standing up. Arizona plops back down and Meredith sighs and glares at Jackson before sitting back down. "So I was looking at the budget and while we have all the money we need it wouldn't hurt to have some more in reserves. The gala was a huge success last year and I think we can make it just as profitable again." "Another gala, really Avery?" Callie questions. "Yes, I think it's important that we get our faces out there and show our donors that we are more than just their doctors." "The only reason the gala was a success last time was because we got people to watch that dancer's surgery" Meredith says. "She's right" adds Arizona. "If we want to raise money we'll have to get everyone to agree to watch surgeries all night." "That's exactly what we're going to do" Jackson says. "We'll start with a party like we did last year then invite everyone over to the hospital to watch scheduled surgeries." Everyone looks thoughtful for a moment before Derek says "I think it could work. The surgeries would have to be exciting, but not too bloody and if we start every surgery at the same time we should have enough gallery space for all the guests." Richard and Bailey nod in agreement. "All those in favor of a gala" Jackson asks. Everyone slowly raises their hands, but they are all in agreement. "Great it's unanimous. I think 3 months will give us enough time to plan everything."

 _That night Derek and Meredith are lying in bed reading. Derek is reading a book on camping with kids and Meredith is reading a book about life after adoption._

"I still can't believe you want to take the kids camping" Meredith says while still looking at her book. "Just because you don't like peeing behind trees doesn't mean the kids won't. We'll have a lot of fun! But I think we should start with a fishing trip, just to test the waters." "Mmmhmm." Meredith just hums in disapproval. "Do we have everything we need for the dinner tomorrow night" Derek asks. "Yes the caterer is dropping everything off at 4 and the nanny said she would put everything in the oven at 6:30." Meredith and Derek sit in silence for a second before looking at each other and laughing. "Can you believe our lives have gotten so crazy that we have a caterer" Meredith says laughing. Derek moves over to be on top of Meredith and kisses her neck. "I think its sexy that you have everything so under control without even lifting a finger." Meredith laughs and Derek continues to kiss her.

 _The next morning Meredith is packing sandwiches and snacks in a large cooler in the kitchen. Zola is sitting on the couch in her fishing outfit trying to put her boots on. Derek walks in with Bailey in one arm and a tackle box in the other._

"Okay I think we have everything we need! Zola do you have your shoes on yet?" Derek surveys the kitchen and puts Bailey in his highchair before going over to help Zola. "I need help daddy" she says before throwing her shoes on the ground in frustration. After Derek gets everything in the car and put the kids in their car seats he comes back into the house to grab the cooler. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Meredith asks. "Meredith I can handle the kids on a boat for 2 days don't worry." Derek kisses her cheek and starts walking to the door. Meredith follows him out and he turns around when they're both in the doorway. "Just make sure they wear their life vests and drink lots of water" she says. "Don't worry this is going to be fun" Derek says with a smile. "Daddy the little fishies smell really bad" Zola calls out from the car. Meredith laughs before giving Derek an I told you so look. "Everything's going to be fine" he says. He looks a little unsure, as if he was trying to reassure himself. "Well have fun with your fishing or whatever. I'll be at Alex's if you need me later" Meredith says knowingly. Derek just hums in agreement before kissing her and heading out towards the car. Meredith stands in the doorway and waves goodbye before walking into the house. "We have the whole day to ourselves" she says after resting her hand on her belly. "I could do some laundry, clean the kids' rooms, go for a walk" she says still talking to the baby. "But I think I'm just going to eat first" she says as she walks into the kitchen. Her pregnancy hormones have already started and even though she isn't crying yet she is craving everything all the time.

 _It's later that night and Meredith is at Alex's house. Amelia, Maggie, Jackson, Alex, and Meredith are all hanging out in the living room. There are three boxes of pizza on the coffee table and everyone is drinking beer except Meredith._

"Come one Mer have a drink" Maggie says when she notices Meredith isn't drinking. Alex gives Meredith a knowing look before she says "I shouldn't I just know that Derek's stupid fishing trip with the kids is going to go horribly wrong and when he calls me because he needs my help I want to be able to drive out there so I can see that annoyed look on his face and gloat." Amelia and Maggie laugh as Meredith says this. "Karev what did you spill in here it smells like crap" Jackson comments. "I have no idea. Can't even remember the last time I cleaned" he replies. "Ew!" Maggie and Amelia exclaim while Meredith just says "Alex" in her annoyed with Alex voice. "Even though this place was like a frat house when I lived here it was still clean" Jackson says. "That's because Kepner lived upstairs" Alex replies. "Wait you lived here too?" Maggie asks Jackson. "Like I said everyone lived here" Meredith says. Meredith stands up and starts walking towards the kitchen. "Does anybody want anything?" she asks. Everyone says no so she walks in by herself. When she doesn't come back after a few minutes Alex gets up saying "I'm gonna go see what she's doing." He walks into the kitchen and sees Meredith leaning against the counter with her head in her hands. "Mer" he says walking over to her. She lifts her head and he can see that's she's been crying. "It's stupid. I just…everyone used to live here." She gives Alex a look and he just puts a hand on her shoulder. "George and Izzie, and even Callie, then you when Derek moved in, and then Lexie, and Sadie, and then Jackson and April and Zola. Everything's changed so much." Alex rubs her arm for a minute and then says "everything's different and nothing has stayed the same." They just stand in silence for a moment and Meredith lets the tears just fall down her face. "We used to be so different. I was having McDreamy and daddy issues, Christina was lying about Burke's hand, Izzie was a millionaire, George had Callie issues, and you had secret feelings for Izzie." Alex doesn't say anything and lets Meredith wipe the tears off her face. "Stupid pregnancy hormones" she says with a laugh. "Come on" he says pulling her out of the kitchen and guiding her back into the living room.

 _Two nights later Maggie, Amelia, Derek, and Meredith are sitting down at the dining room table in Derek and Meredith's house. The kids are sleeping and the adults are just sitting down. Maggie and Meredith had to stay late at the hospital after a trauma came in and didn't get home till 8._

"This food is amazing thank you for having us over" Maggie says looking up at Derek. "Anytime, we love having people over" he says smiling. "Especially when I don't have to do any of the work" Meredith says with a laugh. 'I would like to propose a toast" Amelia says. "Wine glasses up everyone come on!" she says when everyone gives her a look. Derek and Maggie lift their wine glasses and Meredith just lifts her water. "Oh come on Mer you need wine for the toast" Amelia says. "If we're drinking Mer then you're drinking" Maggie says. "Really I'm okay. No wine for me" Meredith says. "Come on you're ruining all the fun" Amelia says. "Just one glass of wine!" "I can't" Meredith says. She and Derek share a look and Derek just looks at Maggie and Amelia with a huge smile. "Yes you can" says Amelia as she stands up to get the wine bottle. "No I can't because I'm pregnant." "Omg no way congratulations" Maggie says excitedly while Amelia says "you're having another baby" at the same time. Meredith starts beaming as she looks at her two sisters. "Yes we're having another baby!" "I'm so proud of you big brother" Amelia says looking at Derek. "Thank you" Derek replies as he reaches under the table to hold Meredith's hand. They spend the rest of the dinner talking about the baby, the nursery, and what gender the baby is going to be.


	7. Chapter 7

_Meredith is now 6 months pregnant and glowing. It is the night of the Grey Sloan Memorial Gala Fundraiser and Meredith and Derek are getting ready in their bathroom. Derek is wearing a tux with a bow tie and Meredith is wearing a black gown with straps that go out along the edges of her shoulders and meet a low in the front._

"I don't know I feel like this dress is too much cleavage for a pregnant lady" Meredith says to Derek as she turns back and forth in front of their floor length mirror. "Stop worrying" he says. "You look absolutely stunning" he adds before pulling her in for a kiss. She playfully swats him away before going back to look at her reflection. She runs her hand down the front of her dress and holds her hand at the bottom of her bump. In the past few weeks she has gotten much bigger, and the dress fully accentuates her belly. 'I haven't been this nervous since our first date" Meredith says turning to look at Derek. He spits his toothpaste into the sink before turning to look at her. "First date?" he asks. "You know, the first time I agreed to meet you outside the hospital and we had lunch at that little café with the fountain." Derek smiles as he remembers how excited he had felt when she had finally agreed to start dating him. "I had no idea what to wear because we had never met outside the hospital so I just ended up wearing a jean jacket" she adds. "You looked adorable in that jacket" Derek says smiling. "But you look even more beautiful tonight."

Meredith and Derek walk up the red carpet into the hall where the gala is being held. Derek kisses her on the cheek before going over to talk to Owen and Richard. Meredith walks over to where April and Arizona are standing by the bar. "So April how was your first week? Are you missing the desert yet?" Meredith asks. "It was good. I think Jackson is still a little mad at me for leaving but it was something I really needed to do" she answers. "Well I'm sure you to will be back to normal in a few days" Arizona says. "Gone on any carnival rides yet?" Meredith asks April with a smirk. April just stares at Meredith with her mouth gaping open for a minute before she stammers "no…, I, uhhh, no we, we haven't gone to the, to there yet." Meredith raises one eyebrow at April before laughing a little. "Why are you even thinking about that right now you're 6 months pregnant!" April says, motioning vigorously to Meredith's belly. "Derek loves going to the carnival with me, the pregnancy hormones make it even more fun" she replies with a smirk. "Ugh" April says in surprise and slight disgust, before blushing and crossing her arms. Alex walks up to them right as Meredith starts laughing. "What's wrong with Kepner?" he asks. "I started talking about going to the carnival" Meredith says, giving Alex a look. "Aww Avery's tilt-a-whirl too much for you" Alex says with a laugh. April's mouth drops open and she looks very upset before walking away angrily. Meredith and Alex start cracking up, while Arizona sips her drink sadly. "I miss going to the carnival" she says before walking away. "What's up with her?" Alex asks. "She hasn't met anyone since she and Callie broke up" Meredith answers. Alex just nods in understanding before turning to the bar and ordering a drink. "Damn it" Meredith says suddenly. 'What" Alex asks looking concerned. "Derek is already talking to investors! I refuse to let him win this year." Meredith quickly walks away and heads over to a group of women and tries to impress them with her baby belly and with pictures of Zola and Bailey.

"What are you doing" Derek asks Meredith pulling her aside. "The same thing you're doing" Meredith says. "You can't use the belly to get ahead of me it's not fair" he adds. "Afraid I'm going to beat you?" she says with a smile. Amelia walks up and grabs Derek's arm, pulling him away from Meredith. "Come on big brother we've got work to do!" "This isn't over" Derek says to Meredith over his shoulder. Jackson walks up to Meredith with a glass of water for her. "Hey how are you feeling?" "I'm fine why?" "I just want everyone to be ready for their surgeries tonight. You sure you and Karev are going to impress the donors?" 'Of course I'm sure" Meredith says. "We're removing a 5 year olds pancreatic tumor. That's kids and cancer" she says in a 'take-that' voice. "Alright, start heading over there, we're going to send the guests over in 45 minutes."

 _That night Meredith and Derek are lying in their bed. Derek is rubbing Meredith's feet while she eats ice cream out of the container._

"I can't believe you and Karev got more money than Amelia and I did" "Getting rid of an old guy's Parkinson's tremors with DBS is pretty cool, just not as cool as saving a little girl from pancreatic cancer" Meredith says proudly. Derek shakes his head at his wife. "Is that good" he asks in a mocking voice as he nods towards her ice cream. "Yeah, it is. Too bad you can't have any. This ice cream is for winners only" she says mocking him. "Oh really" he says before pulling her legs towards him and grabbing for the ice cream. They both start laughing and she kisses him lovingly before kissing him hungrily. "I've been thinking about sex all night" she says in a low voice. Derek kisses her back before whispering "how dirty Dr. Grey you were with a little girl all night." "These damn hormones make it impossible for me to think about anything else. There's a chance that girl still has her tumor" she says jokingly. Derek laughs and kisses her again before lowering her down into the bed. "Well I like these hormones, more hormones I say" he says as he kisses her neck and chest. Meredith just moans in pleasure, and they spend the next few hours fully enjoying her hormones.

 _It's been two weeks since the gala, and Meredith and Derek are riding the elevator into work while chatting about their day. The baby had been kicking all night and Meredith is obviously exhausted._

The elevator doors ding open and they walk out together towards the main staircase. "Is he still kicking?" "Of course she is and its absolutely ridiculous. If there was a way for me to reach in there and get him to stop moving I would." Derek laughs and kisses her on the head. Well I have a late surgery tonight so you'll have to try reading to her yourself." Meredith sighs in disappointment before leaning on his shoulder a bit. "Do you still have that liver cancer surgery today" he asks knowing that work talk would cheer her up. "Yes! And I'm going to try that new mayo technique to see if it speeds up the process." They walk into the main area and about 150 people yell congratulations as they walk through the door. Meredith looks completely surprised while Derek is just smiling and looking at everyone. Owen and Richard are standing up on the stairs and they motion for Meredith to come stand with them. She looks at them hesitantly and starts stammering "what…I don't'…what's going on…why is" before Derek starts guiding her towards the stairs. She walks up and stands next to Richard who is beaming down at her. Owen turns to face everyone and starts speaking. "As some of you may know, almost a year ago talk of a so called surgical streak was going around the hospital. This streak was something of a living legend among the residents and interns. This streak was 89 consecutive positive outcomes for Dr. Grey which ended when Dr. Grey lost patient number 90. About 4 months ago it was brought to my attention that the streak was making a comeback and that Dr. Grey was already at 30 positive outcomes." Owen looks at Meredith and smiles and then nods to Richard who continues with the speech. "I was intrigued by this so called streak and did some research. It turns out that the hospital has a record for the most consecutive positive outcomes. That record was set at 95 surgeries." Richard pauses and looks at Meredith and then out at the crowd before saying "and that record was held by Ellis Grey." Meredith looks shocked and turns to look at Derek who gives her an encouraging smile and a nod. "Yesterday, Dr. Grey broke that record when she successfully completed her 200th consecutive positive outcome." Everyone in the room starts cheering and clapping. Meredith looks around and sees Derek, Alex, Maggie, Amelia, and all her other co-workers beaming up at her and giving her a huge round of applause. Once the clapping dies down Owen turns to Meredith and says "Congratulations Dr. Grey. You are a symbol for the greatness we should all strive to achieve. Is there anything you would like to say?" Meredith looks at Owen nervously for a moment before turning to face the crowd with her confident surgery face on. "Thank you all for this. I know that if my mother were still here she would be asking me why I didn't get 201 positive outcomes." Everyone in the room laughs a little before quieting down again. "She would try to find some way to criticize my work because that's the kind of surgeon she was, always looking to improve the future. But that's not the kind of surgeon I am, which is probably why I beat her." Everyone laughs again and so does Meredith. "My advice to you is to focus on what's right in front of you and appreciate the small victories because before you know it they've become one life altering achievement." Everyone claps and Meredith slowly walks down the stairs towards Derek while Owen tells everyone to get back to work. Derek hugs her when she approaches and kisses her on the cheek saying "I'm so proud of you." "Did you know about this?" she asks. "I told them not to make a huge production out of it but I think this is Richard's version of not a big deal" he says laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

_It's two weeks before Halloween and Meredith and Derek are sitting in their living room trying to order costumes for Zola and Bailey._

"You ordered the navy scrubs for Zola right?" Meredith asks looking up from her laptop. "Yes. I'm just trying to find a lab coat in her size" Derek replies without even looking up. "You can't forget to put her name on it" she reminds him quickly before looking back down at her computer screen. He pauses and looks up at her before saying "why does she need her name on it, she's only going to wear it once." "Because our daughter is an attending and all attendings have their names on their coats, even residents have their names on their coats, because if our daughter is not even above the level of an idiot intern to you so help me Derek I will kill you." "I didn't even think of that Mer I'm so sorry. Our daughter is the greatest child surgeon in the whole universe and will have the best lab coat in the entire world" he says in a slightly mocking tone. Meredith looks at him in obvious annoyance. "Don't mock me this is very important." Derek smiles and tries to contain his laughter. He knows that her outburst is just due to her pregnancy hormones but he loves the fact that she is so passionate about this. "I'm not dear" he says kissing her on the head. Meredith turns to look at him and says "you better make this up to me with a lot of sex." Derek laughs a little and replies "I think I like bossy, pregnant Meredith she's very entertaining." Meredith shoves him a little and leans in to kiss him at the same time her does. Derek pulls away after a minute and smiles at his wife. "So what is Bailey going to be for Halloween?" "I think this year we make him a pirate" Meredith responds enthusiastically. "I love it!"

 _This year Jo made sure the house was ready, quite to Alex's annoyance. When the Shepherd family arrived they were greeted by jack-o-lanterns, spider webs, and Jo wearing a butterfly costume. Callie and Arizona had brought Sofia dressed as a ladybug. Four other families from the dare care were already inside playing games._

Derek walks into Alex's house to see Zola and Sofia eating candy apples and Meredith putting a pirate tattoo on Bailey's arm. "So sorry I'm late, motorcyclist with head trauma came into the ER and Amelia had already left for the night" Derek says as he comes up to his wife. "No worries" she replies giving him a quick kiss. "I think we're all ready to go trick-or-treating" Arizona exclaims as she walks in. The adults spend the next few hours chasing the kids around until Sofia and Zola collapse from exhaustion. Derek has already been pushing a sleeping Bailey in his stroller for 45 minutes when Meredith walks up and suggests they head home. On the car ride home Derek and Meredith enjoy the peacefulness that only happens when their kids are sleeping, and take the time to just talk about their days. Suddenly, Meredith starts shifting in her seat and looks like she's in pain a little. "What's wrong, is everything okay?" "Yeah I'm fine" she says with a grimace. "Your child has decided that now is a good time to break one of my ribs." "Oh, so it's my child now?" Derek asks playfully now that he knows she's okay. "When the fetus is kicking this hard, then yes it is your child." "Why are you still calling the baby fetus?' "Because 'the baby' doesn't have a name yet, or a gender" Meredith replies. "Well we can easily fix that. Let's just go in early tomorrow morning and find out" he says mater-of-factly. She smiles a little before saying "fine", and turning to look out the window. After a few moments in silence she looks back over at him, but quickly turns her head away. "What?" Meredith looks a little afraid of what she is about to say but blurts it out anyway. "What if we invited your family over for Thanksgiving?" "What if we did what?" Derek whips is head to look at her in complete and utter shock. "Keep your eyes on the road! I was just thinking it would be nice to see your mom, and Nancy and Lizzie already have plans with their in-laws so it would just be Kathleen and Amelia." Derek thinks for a moment before asking "wait, how do you know what Nancy and Lizzie are doing?" "I called them and asked" she replies confidently. "So you just decided that having my family over for Thanksgiving is a good idea?" "Yes I did." "Who are you and what have you done with my wife" he asks jokingly. "I just think it's time we stopped hiding out in the woods and face the fact that you have a huge family that is extremely mad at you for not visiting more often." Derek smiles and moves one hand off the steering wheel to hold Meredith's. "I think I like pregnant, married, happy you even more than regular married, happy you." "It's the kids they make me soft" she says with a smile.

 _Meredith is lying on an exam table with her shirt pulled up to expose her belly. Derek is standing next to her holding her hand while the OB is getting the ultrasound to focus on the baby._

"Are you sure about this?" Meredith asks Derek. "I'm sure if you're sure" he replies. "Well everything looks great to me" the OB says. "There's nothing wrong with the baby" Meredith says hoping the OB will reassure her. "Why don't you see for yourselves" she says. She turns the monitor around so Derek and Meredith can take a look, and they see a beautiful baby on the screen. They both break out into huge smiles, and Derek kisses Meredith's hand. "So you want to know the gender?" Meredith turns to look at Derek who nods encouragingly, so she says "yes, we do." The OB adjusts the ultrasound for a minute before saying "congratulations, you're having a girl!" "Fetus is a girl!" Meredith says excitedly. Derek laughs and leans down to kiss her before repeating "fetus is a girl!" They look lovingly at the screen for a few minutes until the OB prints out a few copies and Derek is paged into surgery. "I'll see you tonight for dinner?" "Yeah, and I think we have to tell the kids" she answers. "Whatever you want to do" he replies with a smile.

 _Later that night Derek is feeding Zola and Bailey dinner in the kitchen when Meredith gets home. He had told them on their way home that mommy has a surprise for them and Zola keeps asking for it every 5 minutes._

"Mommy!" Zola yells in excitement when she sees Meredith walk through the door. "Hi sweetie" she says giving her a kiss on the head, "and hi bailey how's my little man?" "Ma ma ma" he babbles as Meredith gives him a kiss too. "Mommy can I have my surprise now" Zola asks impatiently. Meredith gives Derek a confused look as Derek says "Zola remember what I told you the surprise is for you and Bailey." "Ohhh" says Meredith knowingly. "Zola do you remember when Bailey was born and he was a little baby?" "Yeah! He had no hair" she says with a laugh. Her parents laugh with her, and then Meredith resumes speaking. "Well in a couple of weeks we're going to have another little baby. You're getting a baby sister!" Zola sits in silence for a minute. She looks up at her parents and says "do I get to name her, and braid her hair, and play with her?" "Well mommy and I will pick her name but you get to do all the other things with her that a big sister gets to do" Derek says. Zola looks back and forth between her parents and then asks "where is the baby?" "The baby is in my tummy sweetie." Meredith takes Zola's hand and puts it over her stomach where the baby had been kicking earlier. As if sensing that her big sister is touching her the baby gave a strong kick right where Zola has her hand. "She kicked me!" Zola says in surprise. "That's how she says hello" Meredith tells her. "Hi baby" Zola says. "Mama has baby?" Bailey asks as he looks at his mom. "That's right Bailey you're going to be a big brother" Derek says. "Me big broder, me big broder" Bailey says with a smile.

After putting the kids to bed Derek and Meredith are finally able to relax. Meredith is sitting reading her book while Derek is changing clothes. "So I was thinking we could use one of our mom's names as her middle name" he says. "That's a good idea" she says, "but we should probably keep her first name options open because I'm probably almost going to die again and we'll have to name her after whichever one of our co-workers saves my life." "Meredith" he says in an annoyed voice, "that's not funny." "I'm just being realistic Derek, I'm a lightning rod for disasters and anything can go wrong when having a baby." "Seriously, I need you to stop" he says. "Everything will be fine." "It might all be fine in the end; I'm just saying you should be prepared to have a daughter named Richard." Derek laughs before climbing into bed next to Meredith. "Maybe we should just kick Richard, Hunt, and April out of the hospital for the day, just so we have a good chance of getting a good name. Oh and Bailey too because we can't have two kids named Bailey" she adds. "Fine" Derek says giving her a kiss. "We won't pick out any names until we know for sure she won't be named Avery or Calliope" he says with a laugh. "Thank you" she says with a smile. He turns off the lights and after a few minutes of trying to fall asleep she sits up. "I don't know if I could live with a daughter named Arizona" she says. "Oh would you just go to sleep."


	9. Chapter 9

_It's Christmas Eve and Meredith is two weeks away from her due date. Derek has just finished putting Bailey to bed and is starting to get all the presents ready. Meredith is putting Zola to bed, which is quite difficult due to the size of her stomach._

"Mama will Santa bring me my baby sister for Christmas?" "No he doesn't bring siblings sweetie, but she's going to be here in a few weeks" she says with a smile. She leans over and kisses Zola on the head. "Santa can't come until you're asleep" she says. She has to use Zola's bed to push herself up, and puts one hand under her belly for support. As she's about to close the door Zola calls after her "I love you mommy." "I love you too baby girl. Goodnight." She walks into the living room where Derek is already putting presents under the tree. "Zola asked me if Santa is going to bring her little sister" Meredith says to him. "Oh really?" "I hope she's not going to be too disappointed when she realizes they won't be playing together for a while." "Oh I think she'll get over it" he says with a smile. Meredith walks over to the stack of presents and grabs a big box from the top. "Here let me carry that" he says taking it from her. "Derek I can carry a few boxes, I'm fine." "You can sit on the floor and wrap! I just don't want you to overwork yourself" he says in a concerned manner. She glares at him before slowly lowering herself to the floor. "Did Arizona tell you that she asked Addison to come next week for a consult" she says casually. "She did what" he says, as the thought of his ex-wife makes his blood run cold. "She has a mom with two uteruses. One has twins with TTTS and the other has a baby that is 6 weeks younger. Addison has seen two uteruses before and since Arizona is new at fetal surgery she thought it was best to get some help" she says. Derek just nods and doesn't say anything for a few moments. "And you're okay with this" he asks. "Of course I'm okay with this" she says with a smile. She takes a deep breath as if she's afraid of what she has to say but knows she has to say it anyway. "I was just thinking it might be hard on you with Mark gone, but that you could use this opportunity to talk to her about him." She puts her hand on his arm and rubs it as they sit in silence. He turns to her and says "I love you, you know that." "I love you too" she replies. 'But I'm okay, and I don't need to talk to Addison about Mark" he says sternly. "Well maybe she wants to talk to you about him. She hadn't seen him in a while and she never had a chance to say…" "I said I don't want to talk about Mark" he says cutting her off. She can see the pain in his eyes, how he's thinking back to all his great memories with his best friend. "Okay" she says softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Let's just finish these presents and get to bed because it is going to be a long day tomorrow" she adds.

"Mommy, daddy wake up it's Christmas! Come on wake up, wake up, wake up!" Zola runs around their bedroom with Bailey chasing after her. Both kids have huge smiles on their faces which go perfectly with their matching Christmas pjs. "Uuuugghh I'm up" Derek moans as he gets out of bed. Meredith slowly sits up as she watches Derek pick Bailey up and swing him into the air. "Come on mommy we have to open our presents!" Zola says excitedly as she tugs on Meredith's hand. "Alright sweetie I'm coming" she says with a smile. The kids run downstairs with Derek and Meredith following slowly behind them. "Coffee?" he asks as he heads into the kitchen. "Yes please" she calls as she heads over to the couch to sit down. "Alright you can start opening your presents now" she says to Zola and Bailey. They rip into their presents, throwing wrapping paper and bows everywhere. Derek comes and sits down next to Meredith, and they just sit and enjoy watching their kids. She leans her back on his chest and takes a moment to put his hand over where the baby is kicking. He kisses her cheek and smiles, both knowing that in a few weeks their lives are going to be beyond chaotic. The rest of the morning goes by quickly; Zola and Bailey play with their toys until Derek calls them into the kitchen for pancakes and hot chocolate. The kids play outside in the snow for a while until Meredith makes them come in to get ready for the dinner party. The guests slowly start arriving until their house is filled with people. April, Maggie, and Amelia are helping Derek in the kitchen while Meredith sits in the living room with Catherine, Richard, Jackson, and Owen. Alex and Jo are playing with the kids in Zola's room because as soon as they walked in the door Zola said "Uncle Alex come see my new toys", and Alex has no ability to ignore her cute little face. Owen plays his guitar with Amelia and Maggie singing Christmas carols while Richard and Catherine dance with Zola and Bailey. Alex and Meredith decide to FaceTime Christina before dinner and spend time reminiscing about their past Christmases, especially their first Christmas together as interns. After dinner the adults take turns playing with the new nerf guns Santa brought the kids. Bailey had run into the run firing at people until Alex and Jackson each picked up one and started firing back. The game turns into target practice when Derek brings out the dart board. By the end of the evening everyone leaves feeling happy and tired, which is the best way to feel after a Christmas party.

 _A few days later Meredith is standing in the OR halfway through a tumor resection on an 8 year old with Alex._

"Clamps" she says and holds out her hand for the instrument. She and Alex work diligently, occasionally pausing to question the interns. In the middle of answering a question Meredith suddenly feels a sharp pain in her abdomen. She makes a face and reaches down to put a hand under her belly. Alex looks up and says "Mer is everything okay?" "Yeah I'm fine" she replies. She goes back to resecting the tumor until a few minutes later she gets another sharp pain. "Damnit" she says reaching down to her belly. The pain doesn't go away this time and she drops her instruments to hold her belly with two hands. "Mer what's going on?" Alex asks, his voice laced with concern. "Are you going into labor?" asks one of the interns. "No I'm not in labor" she says in her Medusa voice. The pain goes away and she puts her hands on the table to stable herself. She moans in pain and Alex walks around the table to put his arms around her. "Someone page Dr. Webber to take over for me and then page OB, let them now I'm coming down." She stands up straight with one hand still supporting her belly and turns to look at Alex. "I'm not in labor" she says in a scared voice. He nods in understanding and helps her walk out of the OR. As soon as they scrub out and walk out of the OR they bump into Addison who's standing in front of the OR board. "Alex I'm fine go back into the OR and finish the surgery with Webber. I can get myself down to OB." "Mer you are not fine and Webber can handle the surgery without me, the interns can fill him in." Addison sees them walking towards her and smiles at her former colleagues. "Grey, Karev it's good to see you." "Hi Addison" Meredith says politely while Alex just nods in her direction. "Is everything okay" she asks. She can see that Alex is very worried and Meredith still has a hand under her belly. "Yes I'm fine" Meredith says quickly. Alex rolls his eyes and says "no you're not fine." Turning to look at Addison he says "she's had two sharp pains in the past 5 minutes. We don't think she's in labor but she needs to get checked out." Addison puts her doctor face on and leads Alex and Meredith into an exam room. Just as she's about to sit down Meredith feels the sharp pain again. After examining her for a few minutes the door slams open and Derek rushes in. "What's happening is everything okay? I got here as soon as I could." "You paged him?" Meredith says angrily to Alex. "I'm glad he did" Derek says seriously. "Okay Meredith it looks like you're just having some Braxton-Hicks. This is your body's way of telling you that you need to slow down. I'm putting you on bed rest until the baby's born" Addison says. "See what did I tell you, you need to slow down" Derek says. Meredith just huffs angrily and moves to get off the table. "Bed rest means no lifting heavy objects, minimal movement, and relaxation" Alex says. "Do you even know how to do that" he adds with a laugh. "Yes" Meredith replies. "Let me know if any more contractions happen Meredith, but they should stop once you lie down" Addison adds. "Thanks Addison" Meredith says with a small smile. She puts a hand on Meredith shoulder and gives her a small smile before leaving the room. "Alright Nelson took over my surgery so I can drive you home" Derek says. "I can drive myself home" Meredith says. "Meredith, this is serious. You need to stop trying to do so much and accept the fact that your due date is approaching." "I know that. It doesn't mean I have to be an invalid." "Yes it does actually" he says giving her a kiss on the cheek.


	10. Chapter 10

_It's been four days since Meredith began her bed rest. She spends the days in bed reading books and watching tv, much to her chagrin. The nanny drops Bailey and Zola off at 5 so Meredith spends the evenings with them before Derek gets home and puts them to bed._

Zola is sitting on the floor of the living room playing with her toys while Bailey is sleeping. Meredith has just gotten off the phone with Derek; he called to say he got stuck in a surgery and won't be home till much later. "Okay Zozo here's your snack" she says putting the plate down on the coffee table next to Zola. "Cheese, bananas and a little….hmmm" Meredith says. Her face twists in pain and she hunches over, one hand reaching down to support her belly. "Damn it" she says as the pain continues. She hisses in pain and repeats "damn it." A little blood starts to appear on the dress she is wearing. "Actually, you know Zo I think maybe we'll take that, huh, put it in a baggie and we'll…aahhhh..ahhhh!" Meredith puts one hand on the counter for support as she hunches over in pain, while Zola is just standing and looking at her in fear. "Ow ow ow" she yells as she lowers herself to the floor, the pain being too much to handle. "Mommy!" Zola yells as she runs over to her. There's a puddle of blood underneath Meredith. She looks up to see Zola standing in front of her and says "it's okay Zola, it's okay." "You're bleeding, there's blood" she says in a very scared voice. Meredith sees the blood dripping onto the floor and flashes back to when her own mother was bleeding in their kitchen. "Mommy should I call 911?" Zola asks. Meredith sees the blood dripping down her mother's arm and hears "not yet wait," before she says to Zola "yes, call." She hears her mother saying "Meredith, don't be afraid" as she herself collapses onto the floor and passes out. Zola turns around and picks up Meredith's cell phone from the couch. She dials 911 and when the operator says "911, what's your emergency" she replies "my mommy needs help."

The ER is swarming with activity and April is standing in the center of it all controlling the ER board with her tablet when the phone rings. "This is Dr. Kepner" she says when she picks it up. "April it's Nicole. I'm with Dr. Grey. She's having what looks like a placental abruption. We're 4 minutes out and we've got her kids with us." April's mouth hangs open for a second before her trauma training takes over. "Thanks Nicole" she says before turning to the nurse behind her. "Page Robbins, Hunt, Montgomery, and Karev we've got an incoming emergency c-section." Two minutes later they all run through the ER doors and head to the ambulance bay where April is waiting. "Kepner what's going on why did you page all of us" Alex asks. "It's Meredith" she says. "Paramedics think she's having a placental abruption, Zola and Bailey are in the ambulance with her." No one says anything as they all let the reality of what she just said sink it. "Did you page Derek" Addison asks. "No he's in surgery and I didn't kn…" "Page him now! He needs to know what's going on" Alex yells at April interrupting her. She pulls out her phone and sends a quick page. "I'll see if Nelson or Amelia can replace him" she says as she turns to walk inside. A minute later an ambulance pulls up and Meredith is brought out on the gurney. She's covered in a sheet but the blood is already covering most of her lower half. Owen, Alex, Arizona, and Addison all run over to the gurney and grab the rails. "This is a full placental abruption we need to get her to an OR now and do a C-section or she's not going to make it" Addison says. Arizona nods but Alex doesn't say anything. He just grabs Meredith's hand and with fear in his eyes whispers "hold on Mer we've got you." They rush her through the ER and start setting her up in an OR. As they're wheeling her into OR 3 Amelia sees them as she runs into OR 4. "Derek" she says as she walks through the door. "Have you checked your pager" she asks. "No I'm in the middle of this Amy. Now's not a good time." "Derek I'm here to take over for you" she says. "I know you want to act like the boss all the time but I've got this, now get out of my OR." Amelia doesn't say anything and that's when Derek knows somethings wrong. He turns to look at her and before he can even ask she says "It's Meredith. She's in OR 3." He rips off his head lamp and sprints out of the room, still wearing his gloves. As the nurses start prepping her for the c-section Meredith wakes up. "Hey Mer we're just about ready to start everything's going to be okay" Alex says. "We've got you Meredith" Arizona says encouragingly. "My kids, where are my kids" she asks frantically. "Meredith you need to calm down everything's going to be fine" Addison says. She nods to the nurse who then puts the gas mask over Meredith's mouth and puts her to sleep. Just then Derek runs through the door. "What's going on is she okay" he yells frantically. Addison starts the C-section while Arizona goes over to Derek. "She had a placental abruption at home and we rushed her up here as soon as she arrived. She's lost a lot of blood but we should be able to do a C-section in time to save the baby and then we can give her a blood transfusion." Derek just stares at Meredith in fear and shock until Arizona grabs his arm and says "Derek! She and the baby are going to be fine, everything is going to be okay." He just nods, still in shock and fear, and walks over to stand by Meredith's head. He strokes her cheek and just stands by her head. About halfway through the procedure he looks up at Alex and asks "where are Zola and Bailey? They were at the house and…" "They rode with her. I think Kepner took them" Alex answers. "Okay" Derek says, and sighs in relief. Just then a loud cry fills the OR and Addison pulls the baby up. "Would you like to cut the cord" she asks Derek. Arizona hands him a pair of scissors and he cuts the cord, all while keeping one hand on Meredith. Alex and Arizona take the baby over to an exam table. "Everything looks good!" Alex calls excitedly over his shoulder. "Congratulations Derek" Addison says smiling as she starts to close Meredith up. He gives her a little smile and just looks back down at Meredith. "Here you go" Alex says as he hands Derek the baby. Everyone in the room smiles as Derek looks down at his new daughter with pure love and adoration.

A few hours later Meredith slowly starts to wake up. As her eyes flutter open she sees a nurse coming towards her. "Dr. Grey" she says, "your husband is here to see you." Meredith opens her eyes all the way and sees Derek walking towards her, holding a little bundle swaddled in a pink blanket. "She's absolutely perfect" he says as he hands her their daughter. Meredith takes her baby in her arms and holds her tightly. She smiles down at her and tears form in her eyes as her daughter starts moving her fists. "That's right I'm your mama" she says quietly to the baby. "You're right she's absolutely perfect." Derek smiles down at them and sits down by her feet. "How are you feeling" he asks. "A little sore, but not as bad as last time" she says with a smile. They sit in silence for a minute, just looking at their new baby girl before Meredith looks very concerned. "Where are Zola and Bailey" she asks frantically. "They are sitting with Maggie and Amelia in the waiting room" he says. "Is she traumatized? Totally terrified that I'm dead" she asks seriously. "She was a little shaken up earlier but she seems okay now. I think she just needs to see you." "Okay well bring her in." Derek cocks his head to the side a little; "You just woke up I think you should wait before" "No Derek, she needs to see me. She needs to know that I'm okay and that she did the right thing by calling." "She already knows that and understands that you need to recover a little first." "Ugh, you don't get it. Can you just go get her please or I will." Derek opens his mouth to argue but decides against it. He can tell there's something Meredith isn't telling him but knows after years with her that she'll tell him when she's ready. A few minutes later he walks back in with Zola and the little girl runs over to Meredith's bed. Meredith puts the baby in her little crib before motioning for Zola to climb into the bed. "Shhh sweetie we have to be quiet okay?" "Mommy I was so scared" Zola whispers. "I know sweetie, but you were so brave. I love you so much Zozo. Everything's going to be fine" she whispers back as she strokes Zola's hair. They sit in their tight embrace for a minute before Zola looks over at the baby. "Is that my sister" she asks. "Yes it is Zo. Would you like to hold her?" Zola nods and Derek walks over to the crib and picks up his daughter. Meredith positions Zola and shows her how to hold the baby to support her neck. Once the baby is settled in Zola's arms Derek pulls out his phone and takes a picture. A few minutes later a nurse walks in to help Meredith feed the baby so Derek takes Zola and Bailey up to dare care so they can go back to bed. When he comes back Meredith is in the middle of feeding the baby so he sits in the chair next to her bed. "So who are we naming her after" Meredith asks with a smile. Derek leans back in the chair and rubs his hands through his hair. "We are not naming our daughter Addison" he says. Meredith widens her eyes and opens and closes her mouth a few times before saying "oh." "It's okay we can come up with a name, we have time" she adds. Derek just looks at her without saying anything because he can tell by the look on her face that she preparing to tell him something important. She takes a deep breath but continues to look at the baby. "My mother slit her wrists in our kitchen right after Richard left her. I had to watch her bleed out before I called 911 because she asked me not to do anything. That's all I could think about when I saw the blood on the floor. That I was doing to my daughter what my mother did to me. And it took a lot of therapy to get over that." Derek leans back into the chair and rubs his face with his hand in shock. He's heard stories about Ellis from Meredith but never this one. "What if I traumatized her for life Derek and she grows up thinking I almost died?" "What happened is completely different than what Ellis did. Zola knows that you couldn't control what was happening and you let her call 911." Meredith doesn't say anything, she just continues to rub her daughter's face. "The carousel never stops turning" she says quietly. Derek just gives her a look and she says "it's something my mother used to say." He nods in understanding and she finally looks up at him. "She's still influencing my life. I thought when she died that would be it, but it's not. I know I keep saying that I don't want to be my mother, but maybe I should try to just be a better version of her since the universe is hell-bent on making me re-live her life." Derek smiles softly and says "I love you" before giving her a kiss on the cheek. He slides into bed next to Meredith and they both look down at their baby. "Ellis Carolyn Shepherd" he whispers. "What?" "She can be your reminder to be a better version of your mother" he replies. Meredith looks down at the baby and thinks for a moment. "Ellie for short?" she asks. "Ellie. I love it" he replies. She leans her head on his shoulder and he puts a finger out for his daughter to grab. "Hi Ellie" he whispers, and Meredith laughs when she grabs her dad's finger and pulls on it.


	11. Chapter 11

_Meredith is lying in her hospital bed with baby Ellie sleeping in the basket next to her bed. It's been a few hours since she woke up, and since Derek left to take Zola and Bailey home no one except the nurses have come in to see her._

"Mind if I come in" Maggie asks standing in the doorway. "Not at all" Meredith replies with a smile. Maggie walks over to where Ellie is sleeping and sits down in the chair next to the bed. "She is beautiful Mer" she says while looking down at Ellie. "She kinda looks like Derek!" "That's what I said" Meredith says. She laughs a little; "he thinks she looks more like me but I already know she has his eyes and smile." "But she has your ears" Maggie adds. They sit in comfortable silence while Maggie admires Ellie and Meredith rests peacefully. "May I ask why Ellis?" Meredith pauses for a moment before looking up at Maggie; "ever since she died my life has become a reflection of hers in a way but I realized that I have the chance to do everything differently than she did. Have the husband, be a good mom, be happy. Meeting you and almost loosing Derek has taught me a lot about family and I want my kids to be able to know that just because she isn't here she is still an important part of our lives." Maggie smiles a little and says "thank you for sharing that." Alex walks into Meredith's room to check on Ellie since she is one of his patients. "How's she doing" he asks as he walks in. "Good," Meredith says with a smile; "she's been sleeping." "Well I checked her labs and everything looks good which means there's no damage from the placental tear. How are you feeling?" Meredith leans back into her pillows and sighs. "Tired and sore, but better than after Bailey which is good I guess." "What happened when Bailey was born" Maggie asks. Alex laughs a little before saying "she fell down the stairs right before a super storm started and then went into labor during a power outage and had to have an emergency C-section and splenectomy. In the dark." Maggie's mouth hangs open while Meredith smiles sheepishly. "You weren't kidding when you said bad things are always happening to you" Maggie says. Meredith just smiles and arches her eyebrows knowingly. "Well I've got patients to check on, page me when she wakes up" Alex says as he leaves the room. Maggie stays with Meredith for a few more minutes until she's paged to the ER.

Meredith is fast asleep when a visitor walks into her room and sits down in the rocking chair. When Ellie starts crying the visitor picks her up gently and whispers comforting sounds to the baby. Meredith wakes up slowly, and sees a tall person with dark, wavy hair holding her baby. "Shhh you don't want to wake your mommy do you Ellis? No you don't because your mommy is the most amazing mommy in the world so you should let her sleep." Meredith sits up a little and flips the light switch on. "Christina?" "What did I tell you about dying? I thought we agreed no more almost deaths. But, eh I guess we can blame the baby for this one" Christina says. "What are you doing here" Meredith says with a huge smile on her face. "Derek called" she says with a shrug. "This baby is adorable by the way she's already nailed that McDreamy smile." "I know I keep telling Derek that she looks just like him, but he doesn't see it" Meredith replies. Ellis is asleep again so Christina puts her back in her crib and gets in bed with Meredith. Meredith leans her head on Christina's shoulder; "you're never going to guess who delivered my baby" she says. "Did Evil Spawn get to see the inside of your uterus?" she asks jokingly. "Worse" Meredith replies with a grimace. "Addison did." "No freaking way." "I know." "Is that why she's named Ellis and not Addison?" "I think Derek would flip out if I tried to enforce that rule. Besides…" Meredith pauses and Christina can tell the conversation has become more serious. "I don't want to be afraid anymore." Neither of them say anything but they both know the other understands what the other is thinking. Christina knows that Meredith doesn't want to be afraid of becoming her mother anymore and knows that by naming her daughter Ellis she has accepted the colossal role of her mother in her life, and Meredith knows that Christina understands that she needs her baby to be named Ellis so that she can accept her fate and her mother's fate. "Ellis is kind of a grandmothery name though don't you think" Christina finally says. "Well, Derek and I decided we'll call her Ellie. It's much cuter and she can go back to Ellis when she's older if she wants." "Good plan" Christina says giving Meredith's hand a small squeeze. When Derek walks in later he sees the two of them still lying in bed together and decides to come back later. He knows that being separated is difficult for the Twisted Sisters and figures someone should warn Owen.

"Hey Hunt" Derek calls when he sees Owen walking down the hallway. "Shepherd, congrats on the baby I heard you had a girl." "Yeah she's absolutely perfect" he says with a smile. "I just thought I should warn you that Christina's here. She mentioned staying for a few days but I don't know how long that's going to be. Just thought I should give you a heads up." "Thanks." Derek turns to walk away while Owen fiddles with something in his pocket. "Derek, wait!" Owen walks quickly down the hallway to catch up to Derek. "I uh need to ask you something important." "Yeah sure." "I know that you lost your father when you were younger and that Amelia really looks up to you. I'm not really asking so much as uh just letting you know that I plan on asking her to marry me." Derek opens his mouth a little in surprise before breaking out in a smile. "That's amazing!" Now it's Owen's turn to look a little shocked "You're not going to tell me I shouldn't because I was once married to your wife's best friend and this is your little sister we're talking about?" Derek laughs a little; "I was married for a long time before I met Meredith and look how that turned out. And besides Amelia has been talking about you no stop for months so I know you're the right guy for her." Owen releases the breath he had been holding. "Thanks Shep that means a lot." "Anytime. Now if you'd excuse me I'm going to see my wife and baby." Derek claps him on the shoulder and laughs as he walks away while Owen is left standing in the hallway slightly confused and in awe of the conversation he just had.

Christina walks out of Meredith's room just as Derek turns the corner. "She just fell asleep" Christina says as she walks over to Derek. "I'll let her sleep then. The kids are back at the house feel free to make yourself at home, I'm sure Meredith hasn't changed anything about your room." "Yeah I've got some work to take care of and then I'll go over there. Someone has to make sure you aren't ruining your kids by spoiling them" she says seriously, but Derek knows she's joking. "I know Meredith started setting up the nursery but if you see stuff still in boxes..." "I'll take care of it go sit with your baby" she interrupts as she walks away and waves her hand back at him. Derek slowly opens the door to Meredith's room, and upon noticing that Ellis is awake but not fussy he picks her up and rocks her in the chair. A few minutes later Amelia walks in. "Oh I can come back later" she says when she notices that Meredith is sleeping. "No its fine come on in" Derek replies. "Can I hold her?" Derek gets up from the rocking chair so that Amelia can sit down and places Ellis in her arms. Ellis makes a few happy noises and grabs onto Amelia's finger. "Oh she is just precious" she says smiling down at the baby. "Congratulations Derek, she's amazing." "Yeah she is" he says with a smile. "So how are you and Owen. Sorry we haven't talked in a while I've just been busy." "We're, uhh, we're good. I'm still terrified of how much I love him but that just means I have something to loose right?" She looks up at her big brother with tears in her eyes. Derek sighs before pulling the chair up next to her and sitting down. "Before Meredith and I got married there were so many times where I was so afraid of losing her, but that fear made me realize how much I needed her in my life because I couldn't picture a future without her in it." Amelia just nods in understanding, getting the message that her brother is trying to convey. "As Meredith would say: lean into the fear to get your happy ending" he adds. "Lean into the fear, got it" she says with a little fear in her voice. Ellie starts getting fussy and Derek can tell she's hungry. Meredith hears her baby crying and slowly opens her eyes. "Hi. She's hungry" she says in a tired voice. "I tried to keep her asleep for as long as I could" Derek says. "Thanks" she says as he hands her Ellis. "Well I'm going to go round on my patients, congrats Mer she's beautiful" Amelia says as she leaves. Meredith starts feeding Ellis and grimaces a little when the baby bites down hard. "You okay" Derek asks. "She bites" Meredith responds. "I would donate my nipples if I could" he says jokingly. "Thanks" she says with a smile.


	12. Chapter 12

_Meredith is walking around the living room with Ellie in a newborn sling. She has food in her hair and looks like she hasn't slept in weeks. The living room is covered in piles of blankets, bottles, vomit-covered baby clothes, and lots of toys._

"Mommy can I have cinnamon cereal" Zola asks as she runs into the kitchen. "Of course sweetie" she says. Zola and Meredith talk about Zola's day in school and Zola asks tons of questions about Ellis. Derek walks into the kitchen holding Bailey and looking just as disheveled as Meredith. "Okay he's all dressed and ready for day-care! Good morning Zozo" he says and places a kiss on her forehead. "Morning daddy" she replies. "Okay kids it's time to go" Christina says as she walks into the kitchen. She picks Bailey up and walks to the door. Derek helps Zola put her backpack on and goes outside with Christina and Meredith to put the kids in the car. 'you have the address for Zola's school?" Meredith asks. "Yes Mer. And I have Bailey's bag, and Zola's art project, and the cupcakes for Sofia's birthday. Stop worrying. Go kiss your baby or something" she says sarcastically. "You're the best" Meredith replies with a smile. "What would you do without me." "I have no idea. Thank you for doing this, seriously you've been such a great help." Christina smiles her big smile she saves just for Meredith. "Anything for you Mer" she says.

Derek collapses onto the couch and is sitting for 5 seconds before is phone rings. "Ugghh" he groans. "This better be important Torres." "The new sensors just arrived." "How are the working with the legs?" "Like you wouldn't believe! The reaction time and control has improved by 70% and the implant surgery should be much less invasive." "That's fantastic!" "Derek, this is really getting big. Like Harper Avery big." "Don't jinx it Torres!" "Okay okay!" He could hear the excitement in her voice. "Oh I hear Ellie crying I gotta go." "I'll keep you updated!" "Thanks Torres." Derek gets up and walks into the nursery. 'She won't go to sleep" Meredith says when she sees Derek in the doorway. He can tell she's stressed out and exhausted. "Let me hold her. Go take a nap" he says. "I love you" she says in reply. He takes Ellie from her arms and she collapses into the rocking chair. "Callie just called. The new sensors I developed are even better than projected." "That's awesome" she says with a tired smile. "I've been thinking that once we go back to work that I'm going to spend most of my time on this project. I'll have more time to spend with the kids and I can make this Harper Avery worthy." Meredith frowns and looks up at him. "Why do I feel like this is exactly where we were after Bailey was born?" "Mer I'm not going to make the same mistake I made last time. You and the kids are my everything, I'm not going anywhere." He puts Ellie down in her bassinet and Meredith stands up. She wraps her arms around his waist from behind and they both look down at their sleeping baby. "I want to spend as much time with them as I can and if that means fewer surgeries so be it." He turns around and kisses her softly. "Thank you" he says softly. "For what?" He cocks his head and gives her the McDreamy smile. "For all of it. For never giving up on us." Meredith kisses him in response. "I love you" she says. "I love you too."

 _Meredith and Bailey stand in the back of a crowded elevator. It's been 12 weeks since she's been in the hospital and she is very ready to get back to work. Derek went back 2 weeks ago but only for a few hours a day._

"Welcome back Grey" Dr. Bailey says. "Thanks" she replies with a small smile. "How's Ellis?" "Oh she's great" Meredith replies proudly. "Good" Bailey replies as the both get paged and the elevator doors open. "I'll see you later Grey." Meredith walks out of the elevator and goes into the attendings lounge. "Hey welcome back" Maggie says when Meredith walks into the lounge. "I convinced Alex to have a few people over tonight if you're interested." "I'll have to see if Derek is willing to watch the kids but that sounds great" she replies. Meredith grabs her coat and scrub cap from the closet and changes into her scrubs. Derek walks in with Ellis in a front body baby carrier. "Bailey is all settled in day care and Zola walked into class with a new friend" he says as he kisses Meredith's cheek. "Zola has been asking for a playdate" she replies. "I'll see if Julie can get the parent's numbers when she picks Zola up" he says. "Alright well I have a surgery with Bailey" she says. They kiss quickly and Meredith heads to the OR while Derek goes to his research lab. "You ready for this" Bailey asks when Meredith walks into the OR. "I am. Ten blade" she says confidently with an outstretched hand. Bailey watches her intently as she makes her first cut.

That night when she gets home she sees Amelia sitting on the couch, rocking Ellis in a baby seat next to her. Zola and Bailey are playing in front of her with their toys scattered around the floor. "Hey Mer I'm just waiting for the chicken nuggets to finish cooking and then I can feed the kids." "It's okay I got it. Go home to Owen" she says with a smile. Amelia smiles and goes over to Bailey and Zola. "Bye my munchies I'll see you tomorrow!" "Bye bye auntie 'melia" they reply. Meredith gets the kids to sit at the counter and she starts giving them their dinner. Derek walks in from the porch a few minutes later. "Sorry that was one of my research patients" he says. Meredith hands him a glass of wine and smiles in understanding. "So how was your first day back" he asks. "Did you save anyone" Zola asks. "I did! I had to remove a spleen and help a nice old lady with her abdominal pain" Meredith replies with a smile. "No whipple" Zola asks sadly. 'No not today sweetie." "Hey Zo tomorrow I'm going to put a sensor in a man's brain isn't that cool" Derek asks. "Not as cool as a whipple" Zola says. Meredith laughs as Bailey chants "whipple, whipple, whipple!" "Well you think my sensors are cool, don't you Ellie" he says as he picks Ellis up and swings her into the air. She laughs a little and makes some ooohh sounds in response. "Alright you two time for bed" Meredith says. Zola and Bailey go get ready for bed and Derek pulls a bottle out of the fridge. "So it was a good day?" "Yeah it was" she replies with a smile. "Good" he says, giving her those McDreamy eyes.

Meredith stands in front of the OR board and rights her name in her surgery slot. "Hey" Amelia says as she comes up next to Meredith. "Just finished my Corpectomy did I miss it?" "No you're good" Meredith replies with a smile. Meredith's phone rings and she pulls it out of her pocket. "Wow that was fast" she says. "What was fast" Amelia asks. "I texted the parents of Zola's new friend and they want to have a playdate this afternoon." "That's so exciting!" "Why do people constantly feel the need to kill their arteries" Maggie complains as she walks up to the OR board. "Oh are they here yet" Callie asks excitedly as she comes up behind Amelia. "Oh did I miss it tell me I didn't miss it' she asks Meredith with a fake pouty voice. "No" she replies with a smile. "I almost forgot" Maggie says. "I can't wait to see the beads of sweat on their freaked out little faces" Callie adds. Alex comes up behind Maggie; "oh man did I miss it" he asks. "Nope" Callie and Meredith say at the same time. "I wanna see someone crap; actually crap" he says seriously. "Seen it, smelled it, not as fun as you think" Callie says. Maggie makes a disgusted face. "It's happening the baby chicks are here" Arizona says in a high pitched, very excited voice as she walks past them quickly. They all turn and follow her into the OR gallery. They watch as the new interns slowly walk into the OR as Richard recites he age-old speech. Derek slips into the gallery and sits behind Meredith and next to Arizona. Arizona, Callie, Meredith, Alex, Ben, and Derek recite Richard's words because they all know them by heart. Amelia, Owen, and Maggie just look down in enjoyment and awe. "They look stupid" Alex says with a laugh. "They look like babies" Meredith says as others giggle. "Were we ever that young" she asks. "They're so…well rested" Ben says. "And stupid" Alex adds. "Hmmph, and eager like puppies" Meredith says. "No not like puppies" Arizona says laughing a little. "Chicks and ducks" she and Maggie say at the same time. "Left to their own devices they would drown" Derek says. "And take the patients down with them. God help us all" Callie adds. Owen glances up to Amelia and they share a loving look.

Owen and Amelia are walking down the stairs in the front lobby. "Are you sure that you want the blue couch instead of the brown one" she asks semi-seriosuly. "You're mocking me!" "I am not. I just think its adorable that you care so much" she says. "Hunt, how much longer is Richard going to be interim chief because I want to expand my department and he has kind of a different approach to the budget" Arizona says as she approaches Owen and Amelia. "I need more hours and staff for my research and he wants the funding to go into OR supplies" Derek says coming up to the group. "So when are you coming back" Arizona adds. "Ughhh I'm not the boards going to appoint a new chief" Owen says. "We are?" Arizona and Derek ask in surprise. "When?" Arizona asks; "Why?" asks Amelia. "Yeah why" Derek says. "Because I've been chief long enough" Owen says with a shrug of his shoulders. His going away for 4 months had been hard on Amelia but he has been back for a few months and she assumed everything was going to go back to the way it was. "And…. It's time for something else" he adds. He turns and walks away, leaving Amelia, Arizona, and Derek to look at each other in confusion. "Hey doctors!" The three of them turn to look at the nurse that called out at them. She points to the TV and they all turn to see an accident report starting on the news.


	13. Chapter 13

_Meredith, Amelia, and Maggie are sitting in the back of the ambulance on their way back from the scene of the accident. A tunnel entrance collapsed during rush hour and they were called to the scene with April to help a man crushed inside of his car._

"Maybe if we" "It wouldn't have worked" Meredith says interrupting Maggie. "Yeah. No." "He didn't have a chance. It was the right call" Meredith adds. Amelia turns to Meredith looking very pissed off. "Huh" she says angrily. Meredith looks at Amelia in confusion. "What" she says. "You know when to make the right call in every situation don't you Meredith. Whatever you think is best, that's what gets done, am I right?" Amelia breathes heavily after her little rant and turns to stare at the wall of the rig. Meredith looks at Maggie in confusion but no one says anything. As soon as they pull into the ambulance bay Amelia hops off the rig and turns to walk inside. "You had no right saying that to Owen. What I do is none of your business and I don't care who asked you to look out for Owen, what we decide to do with our lives is none of your business." Amelia storms off quickly while Maggie stares at Meredith. Meredith rolls her eyes; "Derek told me that Owen is planning on proposing to Amelia and I just asked Owen if he thought marriage was the best idea because they both have some serious issues. I only asked because I don't want to see either of them hurt." "She obviously took it the wrong way. You should go explain" says Maggie. "She can take it anyway she wants. It's my job to look out for Owen, I've seen him in some pretty dark places. Derek can deal with Amy, she's his sister." "You're her sister too." "Christina is my real sister. She is the most important person in my life after Derek and my kids so whatever she needs comes before Amy." "But Amy obviously needs a sister right now and you're the only one she has out here." Meredith stares at Maggie for a moment before picking up her bags and walking inside. "If she comes to me I'll talk to her" Meredith calls over her shoulder.

"Hey how's your patient? I heard you brought his baby down to him in the car" Derek says coming up to Meredith. "He's in surgery now" she replies giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Something is going on with Webber and Catherine" she says. "What do you mean?" "They've been yelling and glaring at each other all day, I think they even cancelled the wedding." "Well we have to do something" he says. He takes her hand and pulls her into the attendings lounge where he noticed Richard working on charts earlier. Meredith and Derek start getting their things together when Catherine walks in. She goes over to the coffee machine and Richard walks over to her. They stare at each other angrily for a moment before Richard turns around and walks away from her. Meredith and Derek look at each other and Derek gives her a 'you talk first' look. "What is the matter with you two" she asks. "My husband almost died and I almost died multiple times. My mother is dead and my sister is dead. Yeah, I'm gonna play that card." She fixes her gaze on Richard. "You" she says angrily. "You walked away from Ellis, never got to be with her, and now she's dead. Adele is dead." She turns to look at Catherine. "And you – I don't know who's dead for you. But the both of you are very, very much alive, and breathing, and driving each other crazy. And you yell, and argue, and fight, and you both should be thrilled to do those things. I would give anything to be able to do those things with Lexie, and to make sure I can do those things with Derek for the rest of my life. And none of those things are reason enough to not be with the person that you love, especially when there just isn't enough. There will never be enough time." Derek puts a hand on Meredith's shoulders as tears appear in her eyes. He takes over for her saying "You both know that. You both know that time is precious. So whatever it is that's coming between you two, will you just please figure it out already?" Richard and Catherine look at each other with shame for their actions on their faces. "Please just figure it out" Meredith says. Derek and Meredith pick up their bags and leave them to talk. Derek wraps an arm around Meredith as they walk down the halls and kisses her on the head. He knows talking about his accident, her mother's death, and Lexie's death is hard for her so he just lets her grieve in silence. "I really hope they work it out" Meredith finally says. "I think they will" he says confidently. "How can you be so sure" she asks. "Because Richard has always been a romantic, like me. When he loves someone he fights for them, hard."

 _A few hours later Derek and Meredith find themselves sitting in the chapel watching Richard and Catherine get married._

Everyone starts to clap and cheer when Richard leans down and kisses Catherine at the end of the ceremony. "You know how we can make this even better" he asks with a sly smile. Derek suggests having the reception at their house and Meredith quickly agrees. They have the cake and decorations sent over so that by the time everyone gets to their house the furniture has been moved from the living room so it looks like a hotel ballroom. "Thank you for this" Richard says with a smile. "It was all Derek's idea" Meredith replies with a smile. "I know I've never formally told you this but I do consider you family Meredith." Meredith smiles even wider if that's possible. "Congratulations Richard" Derek says coming up to them. "Thank you for having us Shep it means a lot" Richard says. "It's our pleasure." "Excuse me but Dr. Webber has a couple of moves I haven't seen yet" Catherine says as she grabs Richards arm. She pulls him onto the dance floor and they hold each other lovingly. Derek wraps an arm around Meredith and they stand there for a minute just watching the newly-weds dance. He turns her so she's facing on of the guest bedrooms. "Go talk to her" he says with a nod towards the bedroom door. Meredith can see that Amelia is sitting on a bench alone, looking very sad. He gives her arm a squeeze before she takes a deep breath and walks towards her sister. "Hey." "Hi." Meredith closes the door behind her and sits down next to Amelia. "I didn't say that I disapprove of you and Owen, I just want to make sure that you two are going to be okay. I've known Owen for a long time and I've seen the worst of his PTSD; it's not pretty. And you have your own issues that you work to deal with every day." "I'm not this weak little victim and neither is Owen. You don't need to" "I know you're not weak. You're one of the strongest people I know." "Then why did you" "Because I used to be you" Meredith says forcefully. Amelia opens her mouth a little, but closes it without saying anything. "My dad abandoned me when I was 5. I saw him for the first time since then during my first year as an intern. A few weeks later I found out he had a whole other family with two daughters that I never knew about. Then my mother who was suffering from Alzheimer's woke up and told me that I was a failure and she had spent the last few weeks telling me she wished she'd never had a kid. Then I almost died. Then my mother died. Then my step-mother died after being the first parent-figure to really care about me. Then my father blamed me for he death. Then Derek asked me to break up with him." "Why are you telling me this" Amelia finally says. "Because I was so damaged after my life falling apart over the course of a few months that I couldn't let anyone love me. I went to therapy. And it wasn't until I got help that I was finally able to move on with my life and be happy with Derek. Yes, I still had my trust and abandonment issues but I figured out how to deal with my problems. I just want to make sure that you and Owen have handled your problems because if you try to start a life together while you're both still suffering it's not going to end well. And I want you two to be happy." Meredith puts her hand over Amelia's and gives it a squeeze. "We help each other through our issues, keep each other in check. He helps me feel like I don't have to be ashamed of my problems." "I can tell that he makes you really happy." "He does" Amelia says with a smile. "I just want you to be okay." "I will be. Because I have Owen." Amelia rests her head on Meredith's shoulder and Meredith puts her arm around Amelia's back. They sit like that for a few minutes before Jackson comes in and tells them it's time to cut the cake. After enjoying cake with Derek, Amelia, and Owen, Meredith notices Maggie sitting outside on the porch by herself. Maggie wipes a few tears from her eyes as Meredith approaches. "What is wrong" Meredith asks, her voice filled with concern. "And don't say you're fine" she adds as Maggie says "nothing, I'm fine" at the same time. "What – did somebody die?" Meredith hears Maggie's sobs from a few feet away. "Oh. Phhttt. My parents are getting a divorce" Maggie says turning to look at Meredith. "My mom called at told me today. She's been having an affair with the man that services their cars…for 11 years." She chuckles and lets another tear fall down her face. "He's been servicing their cars and my mom. And my dad found out about it years ago, and he was enraged, and he stuck with it for me, because I was…I was still in town. I was always around you know, so they held it together for the kid. Classic. Except the kid's a grown woman. They wanted to preserve my…happy, idyllic…pathetic, crap-filled lie of a childhood!" She starts crying a little again so Meredith sits down beside her. "Why didn't you tell me?" "I…I am crying like a 7 year old over mommy and daddy. I…didn't grow up like you, I've never lost anyone. I never even had a cat die, I still have all my grandparents. There's no darkness in my life. Just, I've never had it. So I-I'm not gonna come talk to you about it." "Well, you should always come talk to me…because whatever it is, chances are, I've seen worse, and I am qualified to tell you how you'll survive. You should always come talk to me." Maggie smiles at Meredith before leaning her head on her shoulder and letting out a big breath. Now it's Meredith's turn to smile; despite what she says she loves being a big sister. They both look up to see Amelia walking out of the house towards them. Amelia and Meredith smile at each other briefly. "What are you crying about" Amelia asks Maggie. "What are you crying about" she asks in return. Amelia just sighs and sits down next to Maggie so she can lean her head on Maggie's shoulder. "This is why Derek built this house" Meredith says as she looks at the party. "He wanted to fill it with noise and people because he came from this big, noisy family." The three sort-of sisters sit in silence, just watching the party. "Okay, we have to dance it out" Meredith says. Maggie looks at Meredith in confusion and Amelia says "what?", just as equally as confused as Maggie. "What does that mean" asks Maggie. "Let's go" Meredith says as she stands up. She stands in front of Maggie and Amelia and reaches her two hands behind her to pull her sisters up. Meredith pulls them onto the dance floor and they dance it out like nobody's watching. Eventually Callie, Bailey, Catherine, and Richard join in making it one big dance party.

 _I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of Meredith and Derek but I think it's important to show the relationship between Meredith and her sisters, since that is what the show's writers focus on in the 12th season. Obviously I made some changes in the Omelia timeline but I think they would never have ended if Derek hadn't die so after dating for almost 2 years it makes sense that Owen is thinking about marriage. The next chapter will focus more on merder and the kids so don't worry!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Meredith and Derek are lying in bed, making out. They haven't had a lot of alone time since Ellis was born but for the first time in weeks they weren't woken up by the baby monitor so they decided to take a few minutes to enjoy just being in bed with each other._

Derek runs his hands through Meredith's hair and kisses her hungrily. He feels her naked body moving under his and moves his hands down to explore more of his wife's body. He thought the sex had been amazing when they first started dating, but somehow after years of being together it is even better. They separate breathlessly, flopping back onto the large pillows and just lay there in silence. "I think this is a magic morning" Derek says. "No kids, amazing sex, the next step in my research starting, and my hot wife is naked next to me. Wanna go again?" "No!" Meredith says laughing. "You are a terrible influence. We have to get the kids up or we're going to be late for work!" "We're on the board, what can they do fire us" Derek says before kissing her again. Meredith's phone rings and she turns away from Derek to pick it up. "We're having the meeting to pick the new chief at 4. Richard wants to give Dr. McConnell a tour during the day" she says after hanging up. "That's fine" Derek says with a smirk; "gives us more time for this." He rolls on top of Meredith, both of them laughing. Suddenly they can hear Ellis's cries through the monitor. "Saved by the bell" Derek says. "Go change your kid" Meredith says with a smirk as she tosses him the monitor. "I'll be in the shower" she adds as she drops the sheet and gives Derek a perfect few of her naked body.

"Okay, where do you need me" Meredith asks as she walks into the trauma room. "She needs an ex lab" Owen says as he works on one of the girls who got hit by the train. They work vigorously on her trying to save her life. After getting consent from the girl's father for her surgery, she and Maggie witness the other girl's parents being horribly rude to Aliyah's father. "Dr. McConnell saved us in that OR" Meredith says as she walks into Derek's office. He looks up from his computer and gives Meredith a quick kiss on the cheek. It has become part of their routine to have lunch together when they can. "Really?" "Yeah. Bailey's gonna have to fight hard if she really wants to be chief. How was your day." "I figured out how to make the sensors even smaller and connect with more nerves endings so that the movements with the prosthetics are more smooth" he says proudly. "That's great" she says with a smile. She takes a bite of her ice cream and looks down at her pager when it goes off. "Oh my god" she says looking up at Derek in surprise.

Maggie is sitting on an exam table and Callie is pressing a cold pack to her hand. "My heart was pounding, and there was a noise in my head and then her face was just coming at me and I was like, 'aah!' and then – ouch! Ow! Ow! My fist had a mind of its own 'cause I didn't even know I was gonna punch her until she was punched. Oh my god! I lost control. I am a monster." Amelia walks in and smirks and Maggie as she watches her ramble. "I would have paid money. Cash money, like a 1,000 bucks" Amelia says walking up to sit next to Maggie. "Worth every penny. It was beautiful" Callie says. "Okay, what happened?" Meredith walks into the room. "Yeah we want details. And would someone page me please, next time Pierce hulks out" Amelia adds. "Think it's funny? It won't be when she loses her job" Meredith says. "I'm gonna lose my job" Maggie asks, her voice filled with fear. "You're not gonna lose your job, she attacked you. Kind of, right?" Amelia says defending Maggie. "Okay you weren't there, you don't know" Meredith says seriously. "Oh, the lady deserved it. She got bigot-slapped. You know she deserved it" Callie says bringing another rag for Maggie's hand. "It doesn't matter. There's a right and a wrong way for us to conduct ourselves" Meredith says. "Mmh, you know what? Grey has a point. Next time, leave the thumb outside the fist when you clench" Callie says. She demonstrates for Maggie and punches her own hand. "That way, you avoid bone damage. See?" she adds wiggling her hand in front of Maggie's face. "Okay, bitch lady's fine medically, no real injury, but she is seriously pissed and out for your head" Alex says walking into the room. "See?" Meredith says; "oh god" Maggie says at the same time. "Is it true? Callie punched a homophobe" Arizona yells excitedly as she runs into the room. "Pierce punched a homophobe" Amelia says proudly. "So it's true" Derek says walking into the room. "Ooh unexpected, high five" Arizona says to Maggie. "No" Maggie says sadly. "Yes!" Callie says with a chuckle, giving Arizona a high five. Arizona then happily high fives Amelia and Alex. When she turns to Derek he just cocks his head and gives her a disapproving look. "Whatever McDreamy" she says. "I have to go apologize to that horrible woman, don't I?" "Yes" Derek says sternly while Alex just nods in agreement.

Meredith and Maggie walk into Meredith's house. "I mean, who does she think she is? She can't just take Zola out of school without telling me" Meredith says angrily. "Well its not like she was gonna kidnap her, and you did tell the school that Amelia has privileges." Meredith just glares at Maggie before turning at walking away. She goes into the playroom where Derek is playing with the kids. Meredith picks up Ellis and hugs her to her chest while Ellis makes baby noises. "How's your research going" Maggie asks Derek as she sits down next to Bailey. "My daddy is making people walk" Zola says proudly. "That's right Zozo" Derek says with a laugh. "It's going really well. I've modified the sensors and the trajectory is even better than predicted" he says. "That's awesome" Maggie says with a smile. Just then Amelia opens the door and walks in. Meredith turns to glare at her angrily. Maggie and Derek can sense the tension so he takes all the kids outside. Maggie walks over to Amelia and grabs her arm. "Sit. Good." Maggie pushes Amelia onto the couch next to Meredith. "I'm part of this family which means I get a say. And I say you two need to figure your crap out" Maggie says. Meredith and Amelia both roll their eyes at each other. "Sorry about the school. I…jumped the gun" Amelia says. "Sorry I said you had fleas" Meredith says. "What" Amelia says, turning to look at Meredith in surprise. "I don't…I don't know how to talk to you. You are a lot…sometimes. I don't totally like you." "Wow. Okay." "But I don't have to because you're family. I love you." Amelia looks surprised but then very happy. "Well then I am so glad that I came over here to ask you two to be my bridesmaids" Amelia says with a small smile. "WHAT?" Meredith and Maggie both yell. Amelia stands up and holds up her hand with the engagement ring. "Owen proposed." "Oh my god congratulations" Maggie says giving Amelia a hug. "I'm very happy for you" Meredith says. She gives Amelia a side hug and then grabs Amelia's hand to look at the ring. "And I was wondering if you would be my maid of honor" Amelia says to Meredith sheepishly. "I would love to" she says with a smile.

 _Derek is lying in bed reading a book when Meredith walks in. She changes quickly and then slides into bed next to him._

"You Grey sisters" he says mockingly with a shake of his head. "What?" "I can't believe she punched someone." "Well neither can I" Meredith says with a smile. "But I'm not the only one with a crazy family. At least I only have one sister" she adds. "Do you think they're all going to come out for the wedding" he asks. "Probably." Derek just groans and throws his book down. "She's getting married. To a normal guy. And she's healthy" he says in disbelieve. "I can't believe we're going to be in another wedding for Owen Hunt" Meredith says with a chuckle. "Well I didn't get to go to the first one." "Oh that's right, I left you in jail" Meredith says. She starts really laughing and Derek just looks at her in amusement. "I'm glad that's an enjoyable memory for you, but I was peed on by a meth head." "Karma's a bitch!" Derek stares at her with lust in his eyes before rolling on top of her and kissing her fiercely. They're interrupted a few seconds later by a knock on the door. "Ughhh" Derek moans while getting up. He opens the door to find Zola standing there holding her stuffed giraffe. 'I had a bad dream" she says in a small voice. Derek scoops her up and brings her into their bed. Zola crawls over to Meredith and settles down her in lap. Meredith peppers her head with kisses while Derek gets her a glass of water. "A vampire was chasing me" she finally says. "Well it was just a dream, there are no vampires out to get you" Meredith says. "Hey, how would you like to be a flower girl in Aunt Amy's wedding" Derek says. "Really" Zola says with excitement. "Do I get to wear a pretty dress and throw flowers" she asks. "Of course" Meredith says with a smile. "Alright it's time to go to sleep" Derek says. Meredith and Derek lie down with Zola in between them. The three of them fall asleep quickly, with Zola's arms wrapped around Meredith and her feet around Derek's legs.


	15. Chapter 15

_Meredith wakes up alone in her huge bed. She looks over the side of the bed and sees that Ellis is still sleeping. She slowly sits up, pushing back the fluffy comforter, and climbs out of bed._

'On the dock fishing with Z and B – Derek' reads the note Meredith finds taped to the coffee pot. Her husband knows her so well; the first thing she does in the morning, even on their days off, is get coffee. Meredith ears Ellis crying through the baby monitor so she puts her bagel down and heads back into her bedroom. "Good morning baby girl" she says sweetly as she picks Ellis up. After feeding her and changing her, Meredith puts Ellis in the baby bjorn and starts walking towards the dock. It's a warm, spring day in Seattle so Meredith is wearing her classic jean jacket. "Look at all the pretty flowers. And that birdie. Do you see that birdie Ellie?" Meredith talks sweetly to Ellis during their walk, while the baby only answers back in 'ooo' and 'agggaaa' noises. "That's right we're going to see daddy, and Bailey, and Zola. They're out on the dock fishing which is daddy's favorite thing to do. Mom doesn't like fishing and neither do your aunts or uncle Alex. Well one-time aunt Christina went fishing with your daddy and caught a biiigggg fish." Meredith babbles on and on until they reach the dock. The back of their house overlooks the water, but there's a path that Derek had built that goes through the woods to a less-steep part of the cliff so the walk up and down the stairs isn't too hard for the kids. From the top of the stairs Meredith can see Zola fishing with her pink pole on one side of the dock and Derek helping Bailey on the other side. "Good morning" Meredith says when she reaches the bottom. "Mommy come look at my fishy!" Meredith walks over to Zola's bucket and looks down to see a tiny fish swimming around in it. "How Zozo that's a really big fish" she says with a smile. "What have we got over hear" she asks heading over to Derek and Bailey. "I can't get a fish" Bailey says with a frown. "Well your dad's the best at catching fish so I'm sure you'll get one in no time" she says giving him a kiss on the head. Derek helps Bailey cast his line before turning to face Meredith. "You left me" she says giving him a quick kiss. "I thought I'd let you sleep in. I take it you found my note?" "I did. Did the kids eat?" "Yeah we had cereal and strawberries before coming down here. Did she eat" he asks looking at Ellis. "Yeah. And I got her to drink the whole bottle" she says proudly. "Ha ha! Did you hear that Ellie drank her whole bottle!" "Yay" cheer Bailey and Zola. Meredith laughs before she takes Ellis out of the baby bjorn and hands her over to Derek. "You are getting so big! I am so proud of you" he says to Ellis. She laughs when he tickles her which only makes him smile harder. They spend the rest of their morning on the dock just having fun as a family.

 _The next morning Meredith and Derek are scrambling around their kitchen trying to get the kids ready. Bailey and Ellis are eating breakfast with Derek while Meredith is trying to help Zola pick a toy for show and tell._

"You can only bring one sweetie!" "But I can't decide mommy!" Meredith huffs in annoyance and looks around at all of Zola's toys. "You play with Mr. Unicorn every day right? Why don't you bring him?" "Okay" Zola says taking the toy from Meredith and putting it in her back pack. "We need to start looking at schools for her for next year" Meredith says coming up to Derek. "Arizona mentioned the same thing about Sofia. I told her we'll let her know which ones we're considering. I think it would be nice for them to go to school together" he says. "Okay. I'll talk to Callie about it. I've got to go I'm gonna be late for this new carpool thing" she says. "Have fun" he says while giving Bailey some juice. "Oh I will" she replies sarcastically. She gives everyone a quick kiss before heading out the door. As she's putting her bag over her shoulder she turns to look at her family and watches them longingly. The desire to stay with her babies grows stronger every time she leaves for work. "Go" Derek says when he notices Meredith watching. "Say bye to mommy!" "Bye mommy!" And with that Meredith is out the door. She picks up Maggie and Amelia, before driving to Alex's place. "This can't be right. They live here?" Maggie asks looking at the disgusting warehouse that Alex and Jo live in. "I mean, when you said carpool, I thought you meant just us because you two live in the same building. Where is Alex" Meredith says. "Am I actually planning a wedding that's going to happen in a few months? How did that even happen" Amelia asks. "I don't know. Stop asking" Meredith replies. "Carpooling is supposed to save time" she adds looking down at her phone. "This guy with the beard – I have seen him perform a sex act to buy drugs, take the drugs, and fall asleep. He's had a full day already" Maggie says looking out the window. Meredith chuckles; "and yet we're still here." "At least I think he's asleep" adds a concerned Maggie. "Does colors and napkin matching really matter? Oh god I feel like a 15-year-old picking out her homecoming dress." "You sound 15" Meredith says to Amelia. "Boo!" Alex pops up in Maggie's window and laughs at their shocked faces. "Alex! I've been sitting out here for 20 minutes" Meredith says in annoyance. "Well, yet at Jo for not changing her oil in over a decade" he says as he climbs into the back seat with Amelia. "Well, between you and this anatomy class, my morning is shot. I need to stop teaching this anatomy class" Meredith adds. "Your neighbors seem nice" Maggie says to Alex. "Yeah, the block's a pit, but it's cheap" he says. "Everybody buckled" Meredith asks. "Sorry, habit" she says when she realizes everyone in her car is an adult. "Webber needs one of us to walk her into her surprise breakfast thing this morning" Meredith says as she reads a text from Richard. "No thanks" says Maggie and Amelia. "Not I" adds Alex. "I hate all of you!"

Meredith stands in front of the OR board looking at all the surgeries she has scheduled. She sighs when she realizes that there's no way she can get all of this done. "Hey" Derek says as he walks out of the OR. "Bailey gave me all of her patients and there is no way I can get all of this done" she says. "You'll figure it out. You always do" he says giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be in my lab if you need some more inspiration" he adds with a smile as he walks away. "Where have you been" she yells at Edwards when she notices the resident walking towards her. "I was downloading all the charts you asked for, which, respectfully, is a lot of charts" Edwards says. "Are we really doing all of these surgeries today" she adds when she looks at the board. "Well, Bailey pushed all her patients onto me, so that means you too" Meredith says.

Callie, Avery, Derek, Maggie, and Ben are in the radiology room looking at the scans for Bailey's pituitary tumor patient. Ben looks at the scans again; "can you do a minimally invasive…" "No, no, her vertebral bodies are too large. We'll have to use an anterior approach through the chest" Callie says interrupting him. "I'll do a right thoracotomy" Maggie adds. "I'm going to do a transcranial approach" Derek says to Avery. "Yeah, if Bailey wants a shorter recovery, then an endonasal approach will help." "The tumor's too big. It won't work." "The head is abnormally big, you're gonna have space." "I'm doing a craniotomy Avery, I need visibility if I don't want to rupture the ventricles." "I'm gonna get you where you need to be with less bleeding, all right? Just listen for a minute" Jackson says. "Apparently, we don't have a minute" Derek says angrily. "Avery, can you do a consult" Meredith asks as she walks into the room. "No" everyone in the room answers, at the same time. "It's for one of Bailey's patients" Meredith adds. "Of course it is" he says in an annoyed tone. "She put all our services on hold to fix her giant problem" Derek says while looking at the computer. "She had me push two procedures for this" Callie adds. "She's doing it to you guys too. I mean, she postponed five of my consults so I could handle her patients. She didn't ask. She just pushed them. It's ridiculous. No offense" Meredith says. "Can she do that" Maggie asks. "Can who do what" Owen asks as he walks into the room. "Oh, can you be chief again, I loved you as chief" Callie says to Owen. "You did stay out of people's hair" adds Jackson. "Very hands off – and great ties" says Maggie. "You know what they used to call her, her interns" says Callie. "What" asks Maggie turning to Callie. "The Nazi" says Callie and Meredith and Derek together.

"Oh Grey – just the person I needed to see" Bailey says walking up to Meredith. "A hot appy came in tonight. Now, it hasn't ruptured, but you need to do" "Am I being punished for yelling at you" Meredith asks interrupting Bailey. "On the contrary" Bailey says with a surprised face. "It's fine. I just need to know." "Oh, you don't think you deserved my piling my service on you" Bailey says seriously. "No." "I believe you do." "What?" "I'm gonna let you in on a secret. See, when Webber had this job, it was easier for him. And Hunt had it easier than I do. You know why?" "I don't." "Because they had me. I need a me, and I believe that you can be a me for me. I need you to be my me." Meredith just stares at Bailey in confusion. "I'd like to appoint you chief of general surgery" Bailey says. "Me?" Meredith asks with total shock on her face. "Because you deserve it. Because you can take it. Because I leaned on you, and you held me up. You are the calm in the center of the chaos. You have been since I met you. And I need you." "Hmm" Meredith says in understanding, before standing a little taller and looking incredibly proud. "You want it or not" Bailey yells at Meredith. "Yes" she says with a smile. "Go, see this appy! And don't complain to me again" Bailey says with a chuckle as she walks away.

Meredith walks into her house to see Derek sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch. "Sorry I'm late Bailey gave me an appy to do after what was supposed to be my last surgery" she says. "Don't worry. I got the kids down" he says. "How's the Nazi doing? When I left she was still ruling with an iron fist" he says jokingly. "The Nazi made me chief" Meredith says with a smile. "She what" Derek says. "You're looking at the new chief of general surgery" she says proudly with a huge smile on her face. "Meredith that's amazing!" He wraps her in a tight hug and kisses her deeply and passionately. "Now you get to say you're married to a chief. I mean, how cool is that?" "Now it's my turn to seduce you by calling you chief" he says looking at her with his McDreamy eyes. She laughs and he picks her up and carries her into their bedroom. "Ooh Chief Grey" he says as he takes off her shirt which only makes her laugh even more. She kisses him passionately and they fall into bed together.


	16. Chapter 16

_Maggie, Amelia, and Richard are hanging out in the attendings lounge. It's a quiet morning so Amelia is going through a wedding catalog and Maggie is looking at birthday presents of her nephew._

"Hey all, uh I was just wondering if someone could tell me where I can get some scrubs" says a handsome man with a New Zealand accent as he walks into the attendings lounge. "Uhh…third floor by the dispensary" Maggie says. "Cheers. You're, uh, Dr. Pierce, right?" "Mm-hmm." "Yeah, I- I just wanted to say I'm super excited and I can't wait to get started" says the stranger. Maggie gives him a small, yet confused smile. "Great….. go get 'em." The stranger looks even more confused than Maggie. "Okeydokey" he says with a nod of his head. As he wanders around the third floor trying to find the dispensary he bumps into Derek. "So sorry mate" says the stranger. "No worries. Can I help you find something" Derek asks politely. "Yeah, it's my first day here I'm just trying to get some scrubs." "They're right in here. Derek Shepherd." Derek sticks his hand out and the stranger grabs it firmly and gives him a nice shake. "Nathan Riggs." "What department?" "Cardio" answers Riggs. "Oh, you're going to love Pierce, she's great" Derek says with a smile. "I hope so….she seemed a little, uh, off this morning." "You'll get used to her" Derek says with a laugh. "Well good luck Dr. Riggs. Hopefully I'll see you on the floor" he says as he walks away.

Meredith walks through the ER after a long day. She sees Owen and Amelia outside in the ambulance bay. Owen is leaning against an ambulance with his arms crossed and looking very upset while Amelia is standing in front of him looking confused and frustrated. She had followed him out to the ER entrance after he yelled at Chief Bailey for hiring Riggs. Amelia sighs and rubs her head as she turns to walk back inside. "What did he say" Meredith asks when Amelia walks inside. "Nothing. Whatever this is…" Meredith doesn't hear the rest of what she has to say as she walks past Amelia towards Owen. "He's no talking" Amelia says to Meredith's back. "Meredith" Owen sighs when he sees her walking towards him. "I made a promise to Christina that I wouldn't let you go dark and twisty, that I'd be your person if you needed one" she says as she walks over to him and leans against the ambulance. "I don't want to talk" he says in a quiet voice. "Okay" she replies. "You don't have to. But just tell me – do we hate him?" Owen looks at her and struggles to compose himself. "We hate him" he says firmly but with deep sadness in his eyes. "Okay then, we hate him" Meredith says confidently. Part of being someone's person is supporting them in their time of need, with no questions asked, and Meredith knows that better than anybody.

"Long day" Derek asks as he walks up to Meredith. "Yeah. You too?" "Me too." They change out of their scrubs quickly and walk to the elevator so they can pick up Ellis and Bailey from the day care. The elevator doors ding open and Riggs walks in. He and Derek nod in greeting while Meredith just stares at the doors. "Dr. Grey, right?" "Yep" she replies. "You two haven't met yet" Derek asks. "No, not officially" Meredith says in a tone that Derek knows means something more. "Yours is easy to remember. It's on all the hospital stationery" Riggs says to Meredith. "What's the story there" he adds. "That's too long a story to tell" she says. "I was actually headed across the street, I was gonna grab a drink or something, are you two headed that way or…?" "We would love to but" "We're friends of Owen Hunt's" Meredith says coldly, interrupting Derek. "So, no" she adds as she walks out of the elevator. Derek follows Meredith out but gives Riggs an apologetic glance. "What was that about" Derek asks, pulling Meredith aside once they made it a little way down the hallway. "Owen freaked out at Bailey for hiring Riggs and he won't talk to Amelia or me about it. Obviously something serious happened between the two of them." "But that doesn't explain why you were rude to him when he's just trying to meet people." "I promised Christina that I would look out for Owen, be his person if he ever needed one. Right now he really needs a person. I told him that I would hate Riggs with him so that's what I'm going to do" she says sternly. "You can't just judge someone before you even know them. What if Hunt is in the wrong here" Derek yells. "That doesn't matter. We are his people Derek. He needs to know that we support him until he feels ready to talk about it. I mean, he won't even tell Amelia what's going on, isn't that a sign that it's something serious?" "Or maybe it's a sign that he feels guilty about something he did." "Why are you so quick to question Owen? He's our friend and he's been a part of our lives for a long time now." "That doesn't matter. There is a right and a wrong thing to do here, and we can't just sit back and let Hunt convince everyone to hate Riggs. He's a nice guy!" "I don't care if he saves drowning puppies! Right now Owen is my person and I am telling you that we hate Riggs" Meredith says angrily. "And I am telling you that we don't" Derek says back just as angrily. They stare at each other in frustration before Meredith sends one last glare at Derek and walks away. He follows her into the day care and they put on happy faces for their kids but they continue to glare at each other the entire night. After putting the kids to bed, Meredith sits down on the couch and pulls out her phone to call Christina. Derek rolls his eyes at her and goes into their bedroom to go to bed. When she walks in 30 minutes later he is waiting up for her. "You can't just alienate Riggs because Hunt told you so" he says as he puts his book down. "Watch me" she says as she walks into the bathroom. When she comes out in her pjs she looks at Derek in bed and makes her angry face. 'I'm going to sleep in the guest room" she says. "Meredith" he calls out in an exasperated voice. She turns around angrily; "for once in your life can you just not be the good guy? You aren't getting any points here for 'doing the right thing'. Owen is our friend Derek and he needs us to support him. I don't care if it turns out that he killed Riggs' brother. All that matters is that Owen needs us to hate Riggs." "This isn't about doing the right thing. I can be supportive of Owen but I can't just hate Riggs for him. As his colleague it is my duty to be impartial and as a board member it is my job to be welcoming to all new staff members. Hunt needs to figure out how to work through his problems without dragging us into them." "Post-it" she says fiercly. "You can't call post" "POST. IT. Post-it, Derek. I am asking my husband Derek Shepherd, not neurosurgeon and board member Derek Shepherd, to be supportive of one of our closest friends in his time of need." They stare at each other until Derek smiles a little and walks over to Meredith and gives her a hug. She accepts it tentatively and looks up at him in confusion. "We hate Riggs" he says calmly. "Thank you" she says smugly. He looks at her hungrily before leaning down and kissing her fiercely.

 _Derek is sitting in his research lab working on his project. He is so engrossed in his work that he doesn't notice Amelia walk in and clear her throat a few times._

"Derek" Amelia says loudly. "Oh hey" he says as he looks up in surprise. "Can I, uh, talk to you for a second. It's important" she says timidly. He stands up and moves to the front of the desk to lean on it. "Of course I'm going to walk you down the aisle, you're my baby sister" he says with a smile. "No it's not about that, well it kinda is, but thanks for support." She fiddles with her hands nervously and Derek just waits for her to say something. "Look Amy, I have a lot of work to do…" "I need you to take over my service" she says interrupting him. "What?" "Owen got an offer to be head of trauma with the possibility of chief in a few years at Duke and they offered me head of neuro. And we're going." "What – when, uh, when did you find out?" "A few days ago. I wasn't sure at first but I realized that…coming here two years ago was the right decision at the time, I needed to be around family and people who didn't know a lot about me. And I've loved living here, but I realized that Owen and I need to figure out how to be a couple together, without everyone knowing everything about us and who we were before we met." "So you're going to Duke" Derek says with a smile. "So we're going to do" she says with a nod. They embrace and Amelia lets go when she has tears in her eyes. "Thank you for being so supportive for all these years. I know it hasn't been easy…" "No, it hasn't" he says with a smile. "But thank you big brother. And I'm not taking no for an answer about you taking my job. This is your hospital and there's no one more qualified." "Let me talk to Meredith" he says seriously. "Okay." "When are you leaving?" "3 weeks after the wedding, so in 2 months." "Does Ma know?" Amelia gives Derek the 'are you kidding me look' and he just stares back at her. "Come on Amelia, this has gone on long enough." "She has never been supportive of my career. I sent her an invitation to the wedding and she said she's not coming. I know I messed up in the past but I've changed, and if she doesn't want to be a part of my life, that's fine" she says. She gives Derek an angry look before storming out of his lab.

"You paged" Meredith says as she walks into Derek's lab. "I like to see my wife every once in a while" he says as he gives her a quick kiss. "Well Bailey has me doing a million consults and surgeries a day plus that stupid anatomy class so we literally have 2 minutes." "Well I want to run something by you. Amelia wants me to take over for her. She and Hunt are taking jobs at Duke. They're moving after the wedding." Meredith looks at him in shock; "uh, well I mean do you want to have your old job back? I know how important this project is for you and you'd be doing more surgeries and have less time with the kids." "Ellie is 6 months old now and Zola will be starting school in the fall so I think I can work more without dropping any balls. I just want to make sure you're okay with it" he says lovingly. "Of course I'm okay with it" she says confidently. "Are you sure?" "Yes. You love being chief of neuro and we have a solid schedule down so I'm not worried about juggling the kids." Derek picks her up and swings her around while she laughs and kisses his face. "So we're doing this? We're both going to be chiefs" she asks tentatively. "We're doing this" he says calmly. 'Okay" she replies. She gives him another hug and she kisses him. When her pager goes off she pulls away reluctantly. "We'll celebrate more tonight" she says with a smirk as she walks away. He smiles as he watches her leave, all the while thinking about how lucky he is to be married to her.


	17. Chapter 17

_Meredith and Derek are sleeping in their bed with Ellie sleeping in between them. She woke them up in the middle of the night crying in pain due to her teething. At six months old only her 2 bottom middle teeth have come in so it's time for the top middle 2._

Derek wakes up slowly and runs his hands through his slightly-gray hair before turning to look at Meredith. Her blonde shoulder-length hair in fanned out on the pillow while quiet snores come out from her open mouth. He looks down at his sleeping daughter; she has a frozen pacifier in her mouth and her little hands are closed into fists on either side of her face. He slowly moves closer to the edge of the bed so he can grab his phone and take a picture. The quiet moment ends quickly when Zola opens the door and runs to his side of the bed. "Shhh mommy and Ellie are still sleeping" he says. She nods in understanding and climbs into bed with him. At 5 years old she is very smart and talkative for her age. "Daddy I'm bored" she says as she plays with the stubble on his face. "Why don't you help me make waffles?" "Oh yay! Can I crack the eggs this time?" "Sure Zozo" he says with a smile. He climbs out of bed and lifts Zola up into his arms. They go into Bailey's room to see if he's awake. They find him playing with some of his stuffed animals. "Bails we're gonna help daddy make waffles!" "I want chocolate chips" he yells excitedly. "What about blueberries" Derek suggests, always the health nut. The three of them walk into the kitchen and start making their blueberry waffles. "Good morning" Meredith calls as she walks into the kitchen. She gives Derek a kiss before giving each of the kids a kiss. "Mommy we have waffles" Zola says excitedly. "I can see that! And with blueberries, wow what a treat." "Do you have surgery today" asks Bailey. "Nope. And neither does daddy" Meredith says with a smile.

Two hours later the Shepherd family is starting their hike. It's a beautiful early-summer morning; the kids are running ahead while Meredith and Derek walk leisurely behind. Every once in a while Ellie will make some noises but she mostly just sits contently in her baby bjorn on Derek's chest. "So I like that school that has all the athletic programs after school and the after-care till 6" Meredith says. "Yeah that's fine." "Fine? Derek, this is our daughter's education we're talking about" she says. "I just don't see why she has to go to private school. I went to public school and I turned out fine" he says. Meredith doesn't reply and Derek looks over to see her looking down sheepishly. "You were one of those private school brats weren't you" he says with a smile. "The expectations of my mother did not coincide with public school. She'll get a really good education and think of how cute she'll look in the uniform!" "What do Callie and Arizona think?" "They both like it." He sighs and rubs Ellie's back before responding; "I guess we can send her to private school." Meredith just smiles happily knowing she fully won that argument. They walk in silence for a few minutes just enjoying the scenery and seeing their kids play. "Bailey's been asking for a dog" Derek says. "And what did you say" Meredith says with terror in her eyes. Their schedule is already packed and she has no idea how they would fit taking care of a dog into it. "I told him not right now but that I would talk to you about it" he says. "How can we fit a dog into our lives? We can barely handle the kids and our jobs. Amelia and Owen are leaving next week so we'll have even fewer people to help out. I mean, how would it work?" "You know I love dogs, I always had one growing up." "I have no idea how your mother did it" Meredith says. "Wasn't it fun taking Doc for walks" he says with a smile. "Want to start celebrating the moments of our lives" she says with a small laugh. "Any problems you need help with?" "Truthfully, in this moment in time, I don't have any problems" he says with a smile.

"Okay here's a pb and j for you Bailey, and here's your turkey and mayo Zozo" Meredith says as she hands her kids their lunches. They're all sitting on a rock overlooking the mountains. Derek is standing off to the side giving Ellie a bottle while Meredith feeds the other two. Bailey comes up to Meredith and climbs into her lab. "How's your sandwich little man?" "It's 'ood" he says with a mouthful of peanut butter. Meredith laughs and kisses his head. Derek walks back over to his family and sits with Zola. "What if we took a vacation" Meredith says to Derek. "Seriously?" "The last time I took off other than for medical reasons was right before I started my residency." "Ah, right" he says thinking back to those 17 days. "I want to see dolphins" says Zola. "I want to see a whale" adds Bailey. "What if we just go to the beach" suggests Derek. "Can I build a sandcastle" asks Zola. "Of course sweetie" says Meredith. "I'm sure we can get the time off. We do own the hospital" Derek says with a sly smile.

 _One week later Derek and Meredith are riding the elevator into work. The nanny takes care of the kids in the morning because it would be too hard for them to coordinate school, pre-school, and day care with morning surgeries and anatomy classes._

"First day back as chief of neuro. How does it feel" Meredith asks him. "It feels good" he says with a smile. "It's going to be weird without Amelia here" he adds. "Yeah, I think out of all your sisters she has become my favorite." "Who's going to cook for us now?" "Well I'm not" she says defensively. They both laugh and kiss quickly before parting ways.

"Edwards!" "Yes, Dr. Grey?" "I've been thinking about restarting my portal vein research. I think the way I approached it last time was all wrong. I already have a few ideas. You were great last time, want to work together again?" "You don't want Blake? She's on your service" Edwards says timidly. "I would love to, thank you for the opportunity" she says quickly when Meredith glares at her. Meredith just nods her head and walks away. "Hey have you seen Derek" Callie asks as she walks up to Meredith. "No I haven't. It's his first day as chief of neuro again so he's around here somewhere." "Well if you see him tell him I've heard rumors that our research is being considered for a Harper Avery" Callie says with a huge smile.


	18. Chapter 18

_Meredith, Derek, and Maggie are in Derek's car on their way to work. Maggie watched the kids last night because Meredith and Derek both had late surgeries, so she spent the night at their house. They have been stuck in non-moving traffic for a while now._

"This is killing me! We have not moved in ten minutes" Maggie yells as she leans out the car window. "I swear that bumblebee has passed this car twice already. It passed us, it circled the Earth, and then came back around to pass us again" she adds. "What is that, two fire trucks?" Derek looks out his window trying to get a good look. "And three ambulances" Meredith says. "That's got to be like a four or five car pileup" Maggie says. "50 bucks says a big rig's involved" Meredith says. She turns to look at Derek excitedly and gets out of the car with Maggie right behind her. "This is not a good idea" Derek calls after. He quickly gets out of the car and runs after them, not wanting to miss out.

Derek and Edwards walk into the crowded ER, filled with victims from the morning's crash. "I want hourly neuro checks on bed 6. Sign off on beds 4 and 7" he says. Edwards' phone buzzes; "we're being paged to" "Trauma 1" Ben says coming up to them. "Dr. Grey" he says to Derek and points in the direction of Room 1. "And Trauma 3. Dr. Kepner. Both urgent, not critical. Who do you want Kepner first or Grey" Edwards asks. "Dr. Grey told me to come find you" Ben says. "Really" Derek asks in surprise. "We need a little help in here" Kepner yells from Trauma 3. "Well there's your answer" he says. He turns and sprints down the hall towards Hunt.

"How many kids do you have" Meredith asks her patient Lou. She's working on his head lac while Blake, and 2 nurses are helping. "Two" he replies with a smile; "They're 10 and 6." "Aww. Sweet." "And they are smart, man. They're smarter than I am…." As he trails off he starts seizing. "Whoa! Okay" Meredith says as she grabs him. "What are we looking at" she asks Blake. "Umm…" "Come on, speak up!" "A tonic clonic seizure." "That's right. Let's roll him." "1,2,3" Blake counts and then they all turn Lou on his side. "Okay, what do we do now" Meredith asks. "We wait for it to pass" Blake says. "We wait for it to pass" Meredith repeats so her student knows that she's correct. "It's going on too long. We need 10 of Lorazepam. It's locked in pharma. Go – now!" Blake rushes out of the trauma room leaving Meredith with just the two nurses. "It's okay, Lou. I got you" Meredith says. They hold him on his side for another few seconds until the seizure stops. "Ooh. That was a big one" she says. "Alright. Oh. He's gonna need a new gown and fresh sheets" she says looking at one of the nurses. "Oh, I hate it when they do that" the male one says. "Could you get an orderly, do you mind" he says to the other nurse. She nods her head and exits the room. "Be right back" the male nurse says to Meredith. "Okay, hey, there's no rush but if you see neuro get them up here, please." "Mm-hmm." Meredith checks his heart sounds, then turns to her chart to make some notes. She goes back to Lou and does a quick physical exam. She takes off her gloves and starts typing her notes into her laptop. Lou slowly starts to wake up and looks confused at his surroundings, but Meredith doesn't notice. He gets up from the bed and takes a few unstable steps, still looking very confused. "Lou" Meredith says calmly when she turns around. "You need to lay down, you shouldn't be up" she says as she grabs his arms and tries to guide him to the bed. He mumbles in protest and tries to push her away. "Let's get back on the bed Lou!" He grunts and mumbles some more, and continues to resist. He shoves her into the window to try and get her away. He slams her into the disposal bins and she grunts in pain. He then grabs her body and shoves her onto the bed. She tries to fight back but he is significantly bigger than she is. He slams her into the cabinet, and her head breaks the glass. Everyone in the ER is rushing around and doesn't hear the grunts and moans coming from Trauma 1. Lou repeatedly slams Meredith against the room window until they both collapse on the floor.

Meredith is lying on the floor, her faced covered in blood, her ears ringing, and unable to move, with Lou seizing on the ground behind her. Penny comes back into the room and runs over to Meredith when she sees her mentor's body on the ground. "I need some help over here now" she yells loudly. April, Richard, Ben, and Maggie get Meredith on a stretcher and onto the bed. They all start examining her and calling out her injuries. In Trauma 3 Lou is being set on the table. Derek, not having left since Kepner's patient, begins to exam him. "Has anyone told the Chief" asks April. "Okay, do not page her. This is one patient. We can do this one, okay? She has to handle everything else" says Richard. "They guy who did this – he was stable, non-aggressive. He wasn't a threat" says Ben. Alex bursts into the room with tears in his eyes. He starts helping everyone else, and as soon as he puts in Meredith's central line she opens her eyes due to the shock of the pain. Everyone's face comes into focus but she can't hear anything they're saying. "Has anyone paged Shepherd" Alex asks. "He's working on the guy that attacked her" April says sadly. They keep working on her and when they have to put her on her side she cries out in pain. Alex looks like he's about the start crying and just looks down at Meredith. "I don't give a damn, it's freaking Meredith" he says as he runs out of the room. "What, Karev" Derek says sharply when Alex runs in. Alex doesn't say anything, and when Derek looks up at him he can see the tears in Alex's eyes. "It's Mer. Trauma 1" Alex says. Derek drops everything he's doing and runs into the trauma room. He sees everyone working on her and freezes. Meredith is crying out in pain as they move her and stick chest tubes in her. Richard stops working and pulls Derek aside to explain the situation. "Go wait outside we'll send someone to update you" Richard says. "I'm staying right her, don't you dare try and make me leave" Derek yells angrily. He runs a hand through his hair and looks like he's about to cry. "Alright, but you have to stay right here in the corner, understand?" Derek just nods and moves back into the corner so Richard can get back to work. Edwards starts doing the neuro check right as Jackson walks in. "What is this? What the hell happened" he says as he walks in. "She was attacked by a patient" Derek says with tears in his eyes. "You can't work on your family" Richard says to Maggie as she starts inserting the chest tube. 'Everybody in this damn room is her family" Alex yells. Ben updates everyone with the chest tube and pulse ox status while Edwards does another neuro check. "No evidence of traumatic brain injury. No – no – no focal deficits. Uh, except – uh, uh, Dr. Grey, I need you to move your fingers for me." No movement. "Or your toes" Edwards adds, her voice laced with concern. Everyone stops to look at her toes but there's no movement. "Come on, just come on, wiggle something" she says. "She responded to the painful stimulus, it doesn't make sense" Alex says. "Pulse ox is dropping again" Ben yells as the heart monitor starts beeping. "It doesn't make sense…unless…" Alex leans down and looks at Meredith's ears. "We need to secure this airway and tube her" Jackson says. "Guys. Guys! I don't think she can hear us" Alex says. 'What?" asks every doctor in the room. "Are you sure?" "No." Jackson does an ear check. "I see evidence of Barotrauma, possibly from the blows. I think Karev might be right. I don't think she can hear anything we're saying" Jackson says. "Her jaw is locked. Suction!" April yells to Ben as he hands her the suction. "Can we take a look? Alright, let me see. Yeah, yeah, easy, easy. Yeah, we've got a dislocation here, possible fracture. There's no way we're getting a tube in there" Jackson says. "You have to get a tube in there. You have to preserve her airway" Maggie says. "Or we have to trach her" Alex adds. "No, no, no, umm…all right, wait a second. If I can reduce the dislocation, we can probably get her mouth open just enough to intubate. It's going to hurt like hell though" Jackson says. "Okay hang tight. I'm sorry, here, okay Mer" he adds as he grabs some cloth. "Okay, we're gonna have to pop your jaw open, okay" he says in a loud voice, as if he was talking to a deaf person. At this point Derek comes over and pushes Ben out of the way so he can stand by Meredith head. He leans over her face and gives her an encouraging smile. 'It's going to be okay, you're going to be okay" he says. He nods at Jackson who then pops her jaw, and Meredith screams in pain.

The next thing Meredith knows she's slowly waking up in a lot of pain. She sees a blurry Alex and Maggie in front of her and feels a tube in her nose. She blinks a few times to try and open her eyes all the way, and she sees Richard, Alex, Maggie, and Derek trying to talk to her. She can't hear what they're saying so she closes her eyes and fades away into the pain. The next time she wakes up there's no tube or head rap but she's still in a lot of pain. She notices Richard out in the hallway working on his charts first. She then sees the huge cast on her leg. She looks up to see Callie working on her arm with Penny assisting, who walks away when she sees that Meredith is awake. Callie smiles down at her and starts talking. Meredith tries to read her lips and it looks like Callie is saying that Meredith is amazing and such a badass, but she still can't hear. She presses the morphine button and slips back into sleep. "She's awake" Derek yells as he runs into the room, followed by Blake. Callie frowns and turns from Meredith to talk to him. She was just a second ago, but I think she's asleep again. She probably pressed her morphine pump." Derek looks dismayed and goes to sit next to her. He looks like he hasn't slept or showered in weeks. "You should really go home with the kids" Callie says. "I can't leave her" Derek says. Callie nods in understanding; "I'll stop by later and check on them with Sofia." She knows how hard it's been for Derek to handle the kids while worrying about Meredith. The next time she wakes up it's just Richard in her room. He puts his hand on her head and looks down at her lovingly. She looks at him for a moment, then presses her morphine pump again. When she wakes up again she's being wheeled into surgery. Alex is on one side and Derek is on the other, holding her hand. Derek looks down at her lovingly and says some words of encouragement that she can't here. The OR door opens and Jo pulls her gurney into the room. Derek and Alex are left outside the door, looking wistfully in through the glass window. The next time she wakes up she's back in her room and she can feel the metal in her mouth. Meredith signals to Penny that she wants to see her CT scans, and after a frustrating, quiet conversation, Penny shows Meredith all her scans. Derek walks into the room and sits down next to her bed. He smiles at her and squeezes her hand. She can tell he hasn't left the hospital much and gives him a concerned look. He just gives are an 'are you kidding me you're the injured one' look and starts putting pictures of the kids on the table next to her. There are a couple of cards that are obviously made by Zola and Bailey and a few from Derek's sisters. There's even some flowers from Thatcher and his girlfriend. She closes her eyes a few moments later, as the pain and drugs pull her back to sleep. The next time she wakes up she notices that she's all alone. She lays in bed sobbing, just crying to herself but unable to hear her own cries. Alex walks in with a smile but quickly looks concerned when he sees her crying. He checks to make sure her pain meds are working before asking "hey, Meredith what's wrong?" He climbs into bed next to her and leans in close. "Just get it out, get it all out" he whispers as she continues to cry. "The tears, all the…god you've got a lot of snot" he says with a smile. She turns her head to look at him and laughs a little. 'I'm serious. I'm for real. I mean, you might have a serious condition" he says with a laugh. "Come on, woman, blow your damn nose" he says as he hands her a tissue. She takes it and blows her nose gently. "Hang on. Mer" he says his voice filled with concern. He snaps his fingers right next to her ear and she flinches away from the sound. "Can you hear me?" She nods in understanding. "You can hear me?" "Mm-hmm" she replies. "You can hear me!" "Mm-hmm" she says with her eyes wide as he chuckles. "Oh my god, oh" he says laughing. He leans into her again and kisses her forehead. They both start laughing really hard. When Derek walks in Alex is still laying with her, telling her about all the things she missed. Derek looks at Alex in confusion and then at Meredith who smiles back at him. "You can hear" he says in total shock. "Mm-hmm" she responds proudly. "Oh my god, Mer" he says with a huge smile. He leans down over her and gives her a gentle huge. Alex climbs out of bed and leaves to give them some privacy. "I've missed you so much. Are you in a lot of pain?" "Mm-hmm" she says with a shake of her head. He starts telling her all about the kids and how he's been here every day since the attack.

 _To be continued…_


	19. Chapter 19

_Meredith sits in a chair in her hospital room. She still has her left arm and legs casts on and the wires are keeping her mouth shut. Arizona stands in front of her, gently applying makeup to Meredith's face._

"Okay, this isn't exactly the right shade, but it's doing a pretty good job of covering the bruising" says Arizona with a smile. She closes the makeup compact and inhales deeply. "Okay, so….don't try and get up, okay? Just let them come to you. And smile. But try not to open your mouth because it's still pretty swollen in there and the wires – the metal wires – they're a little scary." Arizona drapes a sweatshirt over Meredith's shoulders and she smiles in gratitude. "You ready?" Meredith nods excitedly; "okay, all right." Arizona turns from Meredith and walks to the door. She looks through the window and signals for the people standing outside to come in. Derek opens the door; "hey look who's here, guys!" In his left arm he's holding Ellie and Zola is holding his right hand, while she is holding Bailey's hand with her other one. The kids walk in smiling but immediately start to look afraid. Meredith smiles happily and reaches out to them with her good hand. "Your mommy is so excited to see you" Arizona says to Bailey and Zola. "Come in, go ahead, go tell her, go tell her what we talked about Zozo" Derek says. Arizona crouches down next to Bailey and takes his hand to guide him to Meredith. "I don't want to" Zola says to Derek. "It's okay sweetie, mommy's right there! You've been asking me every day when can we go see mommy and she's right here! Go give her a big hug!" Derek tries to gently pull Zola towards Meredith but she pulls away and screams "no" quiet loudly. "Zozo, come see mommy" Meredith says through her wires. She gestures frantically with her hand but that only makes Zola yell "no, no, no!" "I want to go home daddy" Bailey says. He's still holding Zola's hand and is leaning back towards the door. Arizona takes Ellie from Derek and brings her over to Meredith. Meredith adjusts herself in her seat to hold Ellie with her cast arm and guestures towards Zola again. "Zozo come see mommy! Come on! Come see mommy honey! Come on. Come on Zo!" Ellie starts crying and Meredith's speech gets even more muffled as she starts to get panicky. The idea that her own kids are terrified of her scares her to death. Zola and Bailey look even more afraid now and are trying to pull Derek to the door. "Hey it's okay. Mommy just wants to see you guys for a minute. I know she looks hurt but she's going to be okay" Derek says to the kids calmly. "Come on honey, please" Meredith keeps repeating over and over again as Ellie keeps crying. "You know – you know what? Let's just, um – let's do this later" Arizona says to Meredith. "Let's do this later, it's not, it's not okay" she adds as she takes Ellie from Meredith. "Come on, come on. Let's do this later, we're gonna do this later, okay?" Arizona turns towards the kids as Meredith protests a little and motions for Derek to take the kids out of the room. Meredith tries not to look heartbroken as Derek and Arizona take her kids out of the room. "Okay, does anybody want anything yummy from the cafeteria" Arizona says as she takes the kids down the hall. As soon as the door closes Meredith starts grunting and rips all the blankets and sweatshirts off of her body. She starts panicking and itches her body as if she's trying to escape from her own skin. "Dr. Robbins wanted..." "Come in here" Meredith yells at Blake as she walks in. "Dr. Grey! Okay! Okay!" Meredith gestures to her mouth and Blake can tell she wants to take her wires out. "I can't breathe!" "You're okay. You're okay! Hang on! Deep breaths! Deep breaths" Blake repeats as Meredith grabs at her own mouth frantically. "Breathe for me Dr. Grey! Breathe for me!" Meredith sounds like she's hyperventilating and Blake runs over with scissors. "Stay still. I'm gonna get you some air. Just stay still. I'm gonna open you up, okay? Okay. I'm opening you up. Stay still. Please!" Meredith tries to calm down but her breathing is still ragged as Blake cuts the wires. "Hey, what the hell are you doing" Jackson yells as he runs into the room just as Meredith opens her mouth. "She – she was having a panic attack. She couldn't breathe." "Do you not realize how delicate the jaw actually is?" "Dr. Avery, she" "You could jeopardize the entire healing process here!" "She couldn't breathe! Look at her! She's been stuck in this room in that bed for weeks!" At this point Penny and Jackson are yelling at each other, while Meredith just has a hand on her neck trying to breathe. "She can't move! She can't talk!" "But I'm her surgeon now, right" Jackson yells cutting her off. "You can't just come in here and take out her wires!" "She is MY patient. I know what I am doing! You can rewire her jaw tomorrow morning, but right now, she need some air, so I got her some damn air!" Jackson looks down to see Meredith still panting with tears in her eyes. "Mer, I'm so sorry I didn't realize" Derek says. He doesn't finish his sentence as he comes into the room and see's Meredith's jaw open. "What the hell is going on" he yells angrily. "She couldn't breathe" Jackson said quietly. He walks out of the room, not before giving Penny a death glare. "She was having a panic attack so I" "Just get out" Derek says to her. She exits the room quietly while Derek gently picks Meredith up and puts her in his lap. Meredith starts crying heavily now and just leans into Derek's shoulder. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry" he repeats as he rubs the back of her head. They sit there until Meredith stops crying. Derek looks at her sadly and kisses her forehead. Meredith slowly opens her mouth to talk but Derek puts a hand on her jaw. "Don't. I know you want to but please, please Meredith just wait a little while longer until you're fully healed." She nods sadly and motions for Derek to take her back into the bed.

Meredith opens the door to a dark, and empty, Trauma Room 1. She limps in, leaning heavily on her cane. She stands there for a moment before flipping the switch on and continues to stare. "Meredith" Derek says quietly as he opens the door. "You ready?" "Let's go home" she says quietly. He holds the door open for her with the hand that holds the flowers Lou gave to her. She limps through the doorway and turns the light off.

When they pull into their driveway Meredith sees the kids in the living room and looks at Derek in confusion. "Alex" he says simply. "He's been here almost every other night to help with the kids." The walk slowly into the house and Derek helps her get settled on the couch. "Let's get changed into our pjs and then mommy can read you a bedtime story" Derek says happily to the kids. Derek takes the kids to their bedrooms and Alex helps Meredith get settled. "Do you want anything? You know – like a sandwich or a…or a blanket?" "All right all right, I'm good, I'm good. Sit down, sit down." she says to Alex to get him to stop fussing. He sits down next to her with concern all over her face but she just smiles at him. "I just spent six weeks in a bed, unable to speak. When that happens, you see things. There's a lot of things that people don't say to each other that they should just say, so I need you to hear me when I say this. I know I've needed you a lot lately, but I also know and I have known for a long time that Jo loves you. Post-it on the wall loves you." She smiles at him and he just nods in understanding. "Don't ignore that. You can have more than one person. I used to think you couldn't, but now I know. I mean, turns out I have a whole damn village. So you don't have to worry about me. Go be with Jo! I'll be fine. I'm okay. I've got Derek and the kids." He doesn't look totally convinced, but then slowly nods. He ruffles her hair as he stands up and she swats him away with a laugh. A few minutes after he leaves the kids come rushing back in. Derek hands Ellie to Meredith while Zola and Bailey climb on either side. "Mommy can we read this book" Zola asks. "Of course sweetie!" Derek sits on the couch next to Bailey and pulls the tiny munchkin into his side. Meredith starts reading the story and lets Zola turn the pages. Once the first book is over Derek takes Ellie and Bailey to put them to bed. "I missed you mommy" Zola says as she curled into Meredith's side. "I missed you too Zozo. I love you very very much." "Are you going to be all better soon?" "Yeah I will be honey. I have to do physical therapy for a few weeks before I can go back to work, but other than that I'm all healed." "Jack's dad came into our class to show us his broken leg and we all got to sign his cast. Can you come in to my class?" "I don't know sweetie…but I'll think about it" she adds when she sees Zola's sad face. A few minutes later Derek comes to take Zola to bed. Meredith slowly makes her way into her bedroom and gets settled in bed. A few minutes later Derek comes in and gently climbs into bed next to her. "Come here" she says when she notices him sitting on the far side of the bed. "Derek, you're not going to break me" she says with a smile. He slides over so he's next to her and puts an arm around her. "Did Ellie go down okay? And did you remember to give Bailey his tiger?" "Everything is fine, stop worrying" he says as he places a kiss on her head. "I love you" she says and kisses him passionately. "What as that for?" "I just want you to know that I love you." "I don't know how to tell you this but…" She slaps his arm and he laughs. "I love you too" he says seriously but with a smile.

Meredith woke up with a start and turned her head to see Derek staring at her. "You know this is getting creepy. How long have you been watching me sleep?" He doesn't answer with a joke like she was expecting him too. "Derek…?" "The whole time" he says. She looks at him and waits for him to explain because she knows that with Derek there is always more. "I just need to know that you're still breathing. That you're still here. In the hospital I could listen to the monitors but now…I just, how can I sleep if I'm not sure you're okay?" "Oh Derek…I'm not going anywhere" she says with determination. "I'm still here. Still breathing. Still fighting." He doesn't answer, instead he just looks into her eyes and she can see all the fear that he had been dealing with for the past 6 weeks. 'Lay down" she commands. "Just lay down!" She picks up his hands and puts it over her abdomen. She breathes deeply so he can feel the rise and fall of her diaphragm. "After you got shot I would sit for hours with my hand on you so I would know you were still alive. Bringing you home terrified me because there wasn't a code blue button, or a crash cart, but I just, I needed to know you weren't dying again so I did this." "Meredith I'm so" "No you don't get to apologize. Because now I've done the same thing to you and it's your turn to be paranoid" she says interrupting him. She breaks out in a small smile so he smiles back. "Just promise me no reckless driving" he says. "A few nights in jail could be fun" she says mocking him. "I don't know about that." "You would know!" He takes his pillow and hits her gently and she laughs harder than she has in weeks. Seeing her laugh, being back to her old self, made Derek's fears dissipate just a little.


	20. Chapter 20

_It's been 3 months since Meredith was attacked. She went back to work but only doing consults after a few days at home, and 2 weeks later after lots of physical therapy she was ready for surgery. It is the night of the annual gala. Meredith is wearing a dark green gown with a jeweled neckline and Derek is in his tux._

Derek walks into Ellie's room to find Meredith rocking her gently and feeding her. "Zola and Bailey are ready to go, are you almost done" he asks sweetly. Meredith smiles at her baby and plays with her cheeks before looking up at Derek. "You don't think she'll be mad that we're leaving her out, do you? I mean we could bring her" she says. "Meredith, she's not going to remember this. I don't think we're traumatizing her." "Okay…oh baby needs a burp uh? Mommy's got ya sweetie, mommy's got ya." Derek's eyes fill with love as he watches Meredith with their daughter. "Come on we're going to be later" he says but his tone implies that he could care less about being late. "She is just…I love her so much, and she's just so tiny" he says in a quiet voice as he comes up to Meredith. "I know" she says with a smile. "Mommy can we leave now" Zola whines as she comes into the room. "All right let's go" Derek says as he swings Zola into the air causing her to laugh.

"Where's Jo" Maggie asks as she walks up to Alex. "Uh, she's probably talking to one of her friends or something." "Hey" Meredith says cheerfully as she walks up. "Hi Mer! Oh did you see the black jack tables let's go play a round! You have lots of money to lose right?" Maggie grabs Meredith's arm and starts dragging her away while Meredith looks at Alex in confusion. "Hey Karev have you seen my wife?" "Pierce just dragged her away to gamble all your money away." "Ah. What surgery do you have for tonight?" "I've got this baby with a cleft palate that I'm doing with Avery. I still can't believe you agreed to operate with Mer" he says with a laugh. "You think it's funny now. Just wait till you see our presenters. They're cuteness will blow your baby away" Derek says with a smirk. "Wait are you…you can't use your kids that's not fair!" "No one said it had to be fair Karev." "Hey did you guys see those old ladies on the slots machines? They're going crazy" Arizona says with a laugh as she comes up behind Alex. "Why is the theme Vegas again" Alex asks. "Avery and his event planner thought it would be a good way to entertain the donors" Derek says in an annoyed voice. "Well I think it's great! And we all voted on it so stop pouting. And besides the champagne is fantastic." "You're drinking before you operate" Alex says in disbelief. "Oh I'm not operating. Sofia's got the nastiest flu and it's my turn to stay with her tonight." "Zola had that last week" Derek says. "Did you get that email about the bake sale" he adds. "Yeah I'm bringing the brownies. I can make a batch for you guys if you need me too." "Thank you that would be great" he says with a smile.

"Excuse me" Meredith says with a smile as she pulls Derek away from a conversation. "It's time." Derek nods and says goodnight to the people he was talking to. They go over to the hospital and pick up Zola and Bailey from the day care. They help them get changed into their scrubs and lab coats in the attendings lounge. "I've got something special for you two for being such good helpers" Derek says pulling out a bag. He pulls out two little ferry boat scrub caps and Zola and Bailey squeal with joy. "All right Dr. Zola are you ready for surgery" Meredith asks. "Yes I am Dr. Grey. Let's go Dr. Shepherd the surgery isn't going to perform itself" she replies before grabbing Derek's hand and pulling him out of the room. "Mommy I can't do it" Bailey says as he drops his scrub cap to the ground. Meredith picks it up for him and ties it into place. "There you go you're all ready" she says with a smile. "Mommy I think I want to stay here" he says quietly. "Why sweetie? Are you scared of talking in front of all those people?" He nods his head and looks down at his feet in embarrassment. "Oh don't be worried Bails. Everyone will love you." "Will you and daddy still love me if I'm not a good a doctor as Zo?" "Of course we will! You're my little man nobody could replace you" she says lovingly. She picks him up and carries him to the OR gallery where Derek and Zola are setting up. They bring in a table on wheels with a poster board that Zola decorated that describes the surgery Derek and Meredith are going to do. Meredith helps Bailey get his toy doctor kit out and Derek helps Zola put information cards on all the chairs. They leave Zola and Bailey with a nurse and go down to scrub. "Are you sure they're ready for this" Meredith asks as she washes her hands. "Zola has been talking about this for weeks. They'll be fine" Derek says confidently.

"Hi come on in" Zola says as the guests start to arrive. "I'm Dr. Zola and this is my brother Dr. Bailey. Please take a seat" she says confidently. The donors laugh at the kids' cuteness and get ready for the presentation. "Down in the OR is Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Grey." "My mom and dad" Bailey says confidently. "This evening they will be operating on a spinal schwannoma that has extended into the retropleural space." "It is a tumor that involves the great vessels" Bailey says. "That's right Dr. Bailey. Now can you tell everyone what kind of surgeon Dr. Shepherd is?" "He's the chief of neurosurgery." "And what kind of surgeon is Dr. Grey?" "She's the chief of general surgery." Everyone claps for them and the kids have huge smiles on their faces. "I hope you enjoy the surgery. They're ready for you Dr's" says Zola. She and Bailey look down into the OR and Derek and Meredith wave up at them.

"That was amazing" Meredith says with a smile as she scrubs out. "Do you think we won?" "Of course we did" Derek says with a smile. "Thank you for suggesting this, it was a good idea" he says giving her a kiss. "Mmh. We should do it every year." "You know I can't remember the last time we were in the OR together." "Well we were in OR 4 when Ellie was born but I was unconscious so I don't think that counts" she says with a laugh. "You know, the kids are probably asleep we could leave them in day care and have a little alone time in an on call room." "I like how you think Dr. Shepherd!" A few hours later they're lying next to each other on a bed in the on call room. Meredith has her back to Derek and he has his arms wrapped around her. "Did you ever think we'd be here" she asks. "What do you mean" he says as he kisses her neck. "When we used to do this all the time, before the kids, even before we got married. Did you ever think we'd get to this point in our lives?" Derek looks thoughtful and just puts his head on Meredith's shoulder. "At first I did. Before everything with your mother I could picture us having a life together, having kids. But for a little while, after we broke up and before the trial, I don't know I just couldn't picture it anymore. I wanted to but there were times when I just didn't know how to fix things with you" he says sadly. "But now we have everything I've ever dreamed of" he says with a smile. "So it was worth it?" "Totally worth all of it" he says. The kiss softly and she snuggles into his body. "What about you? Is this everything you wanted?" "It's so much better than I ever thought it would be" she says with a smile.

 _Two days after the gala Derek and Meredith are having lunch with Bailey and Ellis in the hospital cafeteria. Zola is at school full time with Sofia now and Bailey will be starting school soon._

"Come on Bailey eat you lunch" Derek says encouragingly. Meredith laughs when her son tries to grab a grape but it flies out of his hand and hits a nurse. "I'm so sorry about that" Derek says to her, flashing his McDreamy smile. "So I, uh, got an email from Molly last night" Meredith says. "Molly your sister Molly?" "Yeah that one" she replies with a grimace. "What did she say?" "She's moving back to Seattle and wants to have dinner or something with our families and Thatcher." "Well what did you say?" "I didn't! I mean, I don't know her. The last time I saw her and Thatcher was Lexie's funeral." "Meredith, they're your family" Derek says seriously. He cocks his head to one side and waits for her usual 'anti-family' response. "Derek I told him when I gave him my liver that the door is open for us to get to know each other and he hasn't tried. We had him over for Christmas and I tried to be friendly at the funeral but once again he shut me out. The man doesn't want anything to do with me, why would we expose our kids to that?" "Well the kids don't have to be there. It can just be me, you, Thatcher, Molly, and her husband." "Oh that sounds super fun. An awkward dinner with people that I barley know. Don't you remember how the last one went? Wasn't that horrifying enough?" "I thought you got past that. And it would be nice to talk to Molly about Lexie I'm sure you can share some stories." "I don't want to talk about Lexie! I don't want to see my father, and I definitely don't want to see the one person that looks like my dead sister!" "Meredith, I just think…" "Can you just drop it! I'll email her back and say we're busy or whatever" Meredith says angrily. She picks Ellie up and says "I'm taking her back upstairs" before storming out. "You made mommy mad." "Yeah I did little man." Derek pulls out his phone and type's 'Christina Yang' into his contacts. He sends her a text that reads: Lexie's sister reached out to Mer and she freaked. All the way in Zurich, Christina is in the middle of a surgery when her phone beeps. "It's a message from a Derek Shepherd, would you like me to open it" a scrub nurse asks. Christina looks up in shock because Derek only texts her when there's an emergency. "Yes." "It says: Lexie's sister reached out to Mer and she freaked" reads the nurse. "Crap" Christina says under her breath. "Is everything all right Dr. Yang?" "Yes it's fine. Can you send a reply for me? Say I'll call her as soon as I get out of surgery." "Of course." "Thank you." Derek is surprised that Christina replied so quickly but is grateful that she agreed to help. Even though Derek has learned how to help Meredith work through her problems, he knows when his wife needs her twisted sister.


	21. Chapter 21

_Meredith and Alex are in the OR working on a liver transplant. Meredith put Ellie back in day care right before going to the scrub room._

"What's up with you" Alex asks when he notices that Meredith hasn't said anything. "Nothing's up, I'm fine." "Then stop being all silent and rage-y you're killing the mood." "Oh I'm so sorry" Meredith says sarcastically. "Whatever, can we just focus on the liver." "Sounds perfect" she was with a slight angry tone. They do the rest of the surgery in silence, only talking when one of the interns has a question. They scrub out in silence too and as soon as she can Meredith walks away. A few hours later Alex is sitting in the attendings lounge with Jackson when Meredith walks in. "Avery get out" she says as she comes in. "Excuse you but you can't just" "Avery I need to speak with Alex and I need you to leave." She gives him a pleading look but he doesn't budge. "Well I need to talk to him too. You're not the only one with problems." "Why does everyone come to me with their crap?" "Oh everyone knows about the divorce papers go figure that out with a lawyer" Meredith says angrily. "Oh okay so my divorce from my wife isn't a big deal at all, hmm? What's your issue, one of your perfect kids has the flu?" Jackson stands up to yell at Meredith and crosses his arms angrily. She stares at him for a moment before speaking; "the father that abandoned me and the half-sister that I hate want to get together to talk about my dead sister. Is that a big enough issue for you or does the Avery Foundation have to come in here and validate it for you?" Jackson looks offended for a second but then really sad when he thinks about Lexie. Alex is just watching the whole thing unfold as if it's his favorite TV show. "Mer, I…" "I said I need to talk to Alex. Can you leave now?" Jackson puts a hand on Meredith's shoulder and leaves quietly. Meredith sits down at the table and slumps down into her chair. "I haven't seen Molly since her daughter was born" she says. "I'm pretty sure she was there when your dad came to the hospital before Susan's funeral and ya know…" "Thanks for reminding me of that" she says with an angry/sarcastic smile. "What do they wanna have coffee or something? Why did she reach out?" "She's moving back to Seattle and just like Lexie seems to be completely overlooking all the things Thatcher has done to me. She wants us to have dinner so we can re-connect or something." Alex puts his hand on Meredith's arm and gives her a loving squeeze. "So what should I do? I mean, I've tried to get to know him before and every time I do all the work and he still acts like he hates me." Just then Meredith's phone rings. "It's Christina" she says in surprise. Meredith answers the phone and puts it on speaker. "Hey are you okay?" "Why what do you know?" "Derek told me that the other Thatcher-spawn called you. Are you freaking out or..." "Uh, not really." "She's freaking out" Alex says. "You're talking to him about this?" "Who else am I supposed to talk to? Derek, as usual, is being all family-loving and practically invited them to move in with us. He had a good dad so he doesn't get it. Alex gets it." Meredith and Alex make eye contact but no one says anything. "Well, what do you think you're going to do?" "Honestly…I have no idea." "I think you should have them over" Alex says. "Don't look at me like that! Maybe you'll like Molly, I mean you hated Lexie at first. And you can shove your perfect little family down your dad's throat and he can be all jealous that he destroyed his life by becoming an alcoholic." "Evil spawn does have a point. I mean one dinner can't be that bad" Christina says. Meredith just rubs her face and runs her hands through her hair in frustration. "I, uh…I'll think about it. But can we talk about something else please?" "Avery gave Kepner divorce papers but she's refusing to sign" Alex says with a laugh. "No way. I always knew they weren't going to make it. Who marries the first person they sleep with" Christina says laughing. The three friends just gossip and laugh, and just for a little they all forget about work, and their lives, and their issues, and just enjoy being with each other.

Later that night Meredith walks into the house to find Derek doing dishes in the kitchen. "Where are the kids?" "They're all asleep." "Even Zola and Sofia?" "Yup. I just checked on them and they are passed out." Meredith plops down on the couch and Derek brings her a glass of wine. He sits down next to her and rubs her thigh, waiting for her to talk first. "I dream about her. I see her arm coming out from under the plane and banging the rock against the metal. I see the blood in her mouth and I hear myself crying." Derek just looks at Meredith like he just wants to wrap her in a blanket forever and keep her safe from all the world's evil. "I know Molly's gonna want to talk about it. And Thatcher is just going to sit there and cry, and I just don't think I can handle that. How am I supposed to look at them and tell them I was there and that I wasn't with her when she died." Derek looks at her in confusion. "I left her with Mark so I could go find you. I was so terrified that you were dead, but I was so absorbed in my own issues that I didn't even realize how bad she was. I'm a doctor, and I was so worried about myself that I didn't even realize she wasn't going to make it." "I'm sorry. I wish I knew how to make this better" he says kindly. "I know you do" she says with a little smile. "But they are my family. And I got to spend more time with her than they did, so the least we could do is have them over for dinner" she adds. "So you want to have them over?" "Oh no I do not want to see them, ever if I can. But I have to" she says. "Hmm…I love you." He wraps her in a hug and they sit there on the couch for a few minutes while Meredith tries to keep herself from crying. "But nothing fancy! I don't want you making a big deal out of this" she says. "Don't worry we can serve them McDonalds and hospital food" he says with a smile. She laughs and playfully hits him with a pillow. He picks her up and she squeals in delight and surprise.

 _A week later Meredith and Derek are getting the dining room all set up for the dinner. Zola is at Arizona's house with Sofia and Bailey and Ellis are with Maggie at her apartment. Meredith convinced Derek that she doesn't want Thatcher to meet her kids yet because he hasn't made any effort too, so he doesn't deserve their cuteness._

"The chicken should be done in 15 minutes" Derek says as he looks at his watch. "Have you seen those white napkins? I know we had them out at some point…" "Last time I saw them they were in the linen closet" he says. Meredith keeps on cleaning and organizing, and Derek just watches her in disbelief. He comes up to her and puts his hand on her forehead. "Derek I'm fine!" "Then stop cleaning!" "They're going to be here soon, and the house isn't close to being ready!" "The house is perfect, you are perfect, the food is perfect, everything is going to be fine." "Stop that" she says as she waves a dish towel at him. 'Fine. Everything will go how it goes. Maybe Molly is a total bitch and Thatcher awkwardly confuses baby you for one of his other daughters again" he says sarcastically. "Thank you" she says seriously, as if those things are actually going to happen. A few minutes later the doorbell rings and Meredith opens the door to find Molly, her husband Eric, Thatcher, and his girlfriend Danielle. "Hi, uh, come on in" Meredith says with a small smile. "Thank you, you have a lovely home" Danielle says. Thatcher just nods awkwardly at Meredith like he usually does. "Hi I'm Molly. I know we didn't officially meet last time I saw you." "Hi it's good to see you again." "And this is my husband Eric." "It's nice to meet you." "You too" Meredith says. "Come on in! There's drinks on the island and food in the living room. My husband Derek is checking on dinner but it should be ready soon" she adds. They spend the next 3 hours going through awkward small talk and random conversations. No one brings up Lexie, or Meredith's childhood without Thatcher, or Susan, or Thatcher's drinking. Derek and Eric and Danielle are super cheerful and are the main ones trying to keep the conversation going.

At the end of the night Meredith says her awkward goodbyes to Thatcher and Danielle. Molly gives Eric a look and he quickly thanks Meredith and Derek before going to pull the car up. "I uh…I just wanted to say that I'm glad Lexie had you. The way she talked about you, you two must have been close and I know she really loved you. So thank you" Molly says. "Really it's nothing. But I uh, I think about her a lot. In case you wanted to know that." Molly just nods and then leaves. Meredith closes the front door and slides down so she's sitting on the floor. Derek brings her a glass of scotch and sits down next to her. The drink in silence and Meredith tries to keep from crying. "Nothing" she says finally. "He said nothing to me the entire night. DNA is total, and utter crap. I'm calling bullshit on the whole thing." "You deserve better" Derek says. "Are we done trying. Because I'm tired of this stupid game where you push me to talk to him, he makes no effort, and then you are left feeling bad for me." "We don't ever have to see him again" he says. "Good. Good." "Okay."


	22. Chapter 22

_It's 2 weeks before Christmas and fresh snow covers the acres surrounding the Shepherd home. School was cancelled due to all the snow and because their house is so secluded, Meredith and Derek can't get to work with all the snow covering the road._

"Mommy can we go out and play in the snow nooowww?" Zola and Bailey are having breakfast at the island and Meredith is trying to get Ellis to eat mushed carrots. "After you make your bed and brush your teeth Zo" she replies. "I got Blake and Edwards to cover our patients for the day, so we're all set" Derek says as he walks into the kitchen. "Okay, good. Oh, come on baby girl! I know you want to eat the carrots! Eat the carrots for mommy" Meredith says to Ellie in a high-pitched baby voice. "Daddy can we make a snow man" asks Bailey. At 4 years old he is very into building things, and then smashing them. "We can do whatever you want Bails" Derek says with a smile. 20 minutes later Zola, Bailey, and Derek are all dressed in their snow coats and snow pants. Meredith pulls out her phone and takes a picture of the three of them on the porch. "Have fun" she says as she watches them trek into the trees. "What are you and I going to do today" she says lovingly to Ellis as she picks her up. The almost 1-year-old smiles and laughs as Meredith swings her through the air. "Do you want to help mommy pick out Christmas presents? I think you're gonna be a great helper!"

"Uh, I'm exhausted" Derek says as he collapses onto their bed. He spent most of his day running around with Zola and Bailey, and he is getting kind of old. Meredith flops down beside him and closes her eyes too, even though they are both still in their clothes. "You know what we need" Derek says as he sits up to look at Meredith. "New bodies" she suggests sarcastically. "A bath." She opens her eyes to see Derek grinning down at her. "I don't think I have the energy for that" she says with a small laugh. "Just you, me, and some bubbles. Nothing else I promise." "No funny business?" "No I won't do anything, I promise…but you can be a tease sometimes so if I -" Meredith smacks him with a pillow; "if anyone's the tease it's you!" "I'll come get you when its ready" he says. A few minutes later Meredith is woken up by Derek kissing her softly on her neck and face. They climb into the bathtub together; Derek sitting up with Meredith in his lap. She leans back into him and they both close their eyes and relax. "Mmmm…this is nice" Meredith says after a few moments of silence. "Mm-hmm" Derek replies as he nuzzles his nose into her neck. "We don't do this that often do we? Even though we had this tub custom made I feel like we never use it." "We just don't have the time." "I've missed this." "Me too" he says. Meredith closes her eyes again and just listens to the rhythm for Derek's heartbeat. "Zola did the cutest thing today. When Bailey fell down and got snow in his hat she traded with him so his head wouldn't get cold" Derek says with a proud smile. "I think Ellie is going to say her first word soon." "Really?" "Her sounds are really starting to sound like almost words, and she got really close to 'mama'." "Well it might be 'dada' first, you never know." "You're just saying that because Zo and Bailey both said 'mama' first." "Well, yeah… I want one child to love me more than you" he says jokingly. "Oh really? Is that how you wanna play it?" "Dads are just as important as moms" he says defensively. "I never said they weren't. I just think her first word is going to be 'mama'. I mean, I did carry her in my body for 9 months and then keep her sustained for another 4 after that" she says with a coy smile. "Don't play the pregnancy card. You're just afraid that I'm going to get her to say 'dada' first. I have my very charming ways." "I can play the pregnancy card as many times as I want, I almost died for that kid, remember? So I think as a curtesy you should let me have the first word." "Fine…" Derek says reluctantly. "Thank you" she says smugly. "And I guess you can sign Bailey up for hockey. But you have to drive him!" "Best wife ever" he says and kisses her neck.

 _It's Christmas Day, so of course Zola and Bailey woke Meredith and Derek up very early. They celebrated Ellis's first Christmas by letting her rip all the wrapping paper. After a few hours spent opening presents and drinking hot chocolate, they all had to get ready for Christmas dinner at Richard and Catherine's. Maggie, Jackson, and April are in attendance as well._

"Hi! Well come on in" Richard says happily when he opens the door and sees the Shepherd family. Bailey and Zola run over to Maggie and April to show them the toys Meredith let them bring. "Thanks for having us Richard" Derek says with a smile. "It's my pleasure. I'll take your coats, go make yourselves comfortable." Derek follows Richard while Meredith goes over to Catherine and Jackson. "Hi Mrs. Avery, thank you for having us over, I know it's a lot to deal with, all the kids." "It's no problem dear. Besides, your kids are absolutely adorable!" Catherine asks to hold Ellie so Meredith goes to check on Zola and Bailey. "Wow Zola! You are really good at making those" April says with a smile. Zola brought her Spirograph and has already perfected it. "How are you feeling" Meredith asks as she sits down next to April. "Uh, what…I don't…how did? Did Jackson say something, because I…uh, I'm…it's not" "April! I've been where you are twice. I know what it looks like" Meredith says with a knowing grin. "How far along are you?" "2 months" April answers quietly. "Well, congratulations." "Thanks…I guess." "If you ever need anything April, I'm always here, okay?" "Thanks Meredith." April gives her a sad smile and Meredith just pats her leg. "Hey, Mer I think she's hungry" Jackson says walking over with a fussy Ellie in his arms. "Do you mind feeding her? I promised Richard I would help with the pie." "Uh, I'm not really sure…" "Her bottles in the bag, just give it to her and then some of those cheerios. Have fun!" She winks at April as she gets up and lets Jackson take her seat. "Here, you have to hold her head a little higher" April says as she adjusts Ellie's head. "Thanks" Jackson says with a small smile. "Do you need any help in here" Meredith asks as she walks into the kitchen. "No! You stay out of here" Maggie yells. "What, I can help!" "No, you'll just cut your finger and get blood on the food" Maggie says as she points her knife at Meredith. "You can make drinks" Derek says encouragingly. "I do make good eggnog!"

"Here you go, one kid friendly eggnog" Meredith says as she sits next to Richard. "Ah, thank you." "How is everything with you and Catherine? I know she's been in Boston for a while." "She had some work to do for the foundation but she's going to be here for a while now." "That's good. And I'm glad you decided to invite Maggie, I know it's a little weird, but" "She's my daughter Meredith, I wouldn't have her anywhere else" he says confidently. "You know, we never really talked about it but she technically makes us family" he says. Meredith doesn't say anything, she just takes a sip of her drink and looks at her kids. "But I have considered you family for a long time, Meredith." She still doesn't say anything, but this time just leans her head on his shoulder. "I remembered you; when I started my internship I saw you at the welcome dinner and I remembered how I would sit on your lap and you would tell me all the organ names in Anatomy Jane" she says quietly. Richard laughs a little; "you loved that thing, you dragged it all around the hospital." "I read in one of her journals that Thatcher got mad one night because I told him that I wanted to have a tea party with Anatomy Jane and you instead of him" she says sadly. Richard doesn't say anything, but just rubs her back as he tries to comfort her. "Your kids are very lucky to have you. You're an amazing mother, and in my eyes, the better Grey for it." Meredith nods in understanding and puts her hand on Richard's arm as a few tears start to pool in her eyes. "Hey Mer it seemed like she wanted you, so...oh sorry" Jackson says as he walks in on Meredith and Richard. "No it's okay I can take her" she says as she gets up. "You okay" Jackson asks once they get into the hallway. "Yeah I'm fine." "Seriously. We were just talking about my mom" she adds when he gives her a knowing look. "Dinner's ready" Derek says coming up behind Meredith. He gives her a kiss on the cheek and takes Ellis from Meredith. "Your mom wants you" he says to Jackson. "Is everything okay" he asks Meredith. "Richard and I were just talking about my mother" she replies. "But I'm good! So let's eat" she says cheerfully. Everyone sits down in the dining room and enjoys a large meal together. Everyone laughs when Zola and Bailey tell funny kids jokes that aren't really funny, all the adults talk about their interesting cases, and Richard makes a wonderful toast. After desert Zola and Bailey hand out the presents they made for everyone: popsicle-stick picture frames with lots of glitter and dinosaur stickers.

On the drive home all three kids fall asleep, giving Meredith and Derek a chance to talk. "I think I want to get Zola her own Anatomy Jane doll" she says. "Really?" "She's not that creepy! I loved her!" "I thought we agreed no forcing surgical careers down their throats." "This isn't surgery, it's an educational toy. Besides, I don't have anything to pass down to her because my mother didn't keep anything of mine. It's just something I can share with her." "If I get hockey, you can have Anatomy Jane." "I knew that would benefit me sometime soon" she says with a smile. "If the length is too long I can take it back and get a different chain" he says pointing to the necklace he got her. "It's a long, silver chain with three little silver circles that have the kids' names. "No it's perfect. I love it, thank you." "You're welcome" he says as she kisses him on the cheek. "There's a second part to your gift that you can have when we get home" she says. "Don't tell me, I don't want to know." "I wasn't going to" she says with a laugh. "Just tell me" he says as he gives her his best McDreamy eyes. "The sparkly eye thing isn't going to work on me, I'm immune." "Oh there I would have to disagree" he says with a laugh. "Whatever. It won't work this time. You'll just have to be patient." Once they get home and put the kids to bed, Derek starts cleaning up the mess in front of the tree. Meredith sticks her head out of their bedroom window and calls his name. When he walks in he sees Meredith standing in on top of a bed she made for them in front of the fire place. "Merry Christmas" she says lovingly. He puts his hands on either side of her face and pulls her in for a deep kiss. They slowly make their way to the floor and spend the next few hours wrapped around each other.


	23. Chapter 23

_Meredith is having lunch with Alex, Jackson, and Maggie in the hospital cafeteria. Derek is in surgery, Zola is at school, and Bailey and Ellis are at home with the nanny._

"Did you hear about those two interns that dropped the blood bags in the OR" Alex says with a laugh. "Are you serious" asks Maggie with shock on her face. "Apparently it went everywhere, and it was during Bailey's surgery" Jackson says. "That's the one person you really don't want to screw up in front of" Meredith says with a laugh. They keep gossiping and laughing about the random things going on in the hospital. Meredith's phone rings and when she looks at the number her face falls; Zola's school never calls her. "Hello?" "Dr. Grey? This is Mrs. Stanley I'm Zola's school nurse" a woman says. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to Zola?" Everyone looks up when they hear Meredith say this and they all look at her in confusion. "We're not sure" the nurse says tentatively. "Well what do you know" Meredith says angrily into the phone. "Zola has what looks like weakness in her right and left leg. The teacher noticed she was walking weirdly and that she had a hard time holding her pencil. When her teacher asked if she was feeling all right, Zola apparently screamed at her and told her to shut up. Other students say Zola has been acting very strange all day. Is there something going on at home that we should know about?" "No there's nothing…can she move her right extremities at all?" "A little. We have her here in the nurse's office." "Can I talk to her?" "Of course?" "What's going on" asks Maggie but Alex just shushes her. "Zozo, it's mommy, are you feeling okay?" "No I don't feel so good" she replies but her speech is kind of slurred. "Mommy's gonna come get you, okay sweetie? Can you give the phone back to the nurse?" "I'm coming to pick her up I'll be there in 15 minutes." "Okay, Dr. Grey. We'll keep an eye on her until you get here." Meredith hangs up and jumps out of her seat. "Alex come with me, Jackson text me as soon as Derek is out of surgery, and Maggie let the nanny know we won't be home tonight" she says as she starts walking out of the cafeteria. "Sure but what's going on" Maggie asks as they all follow her. "Is Zola okay" Jackson asks. "She has worsening right extremity function, change in personality, and slurred speech" Meredith says quickly. She grabs Alex's arm and pulls him out of the room. "What does that mean?" "It means her shunt stopped working" Jackson says.

Meredith and Alex run into the nurse's office at Zola's school. When they get there she can barely move her right arm and leg, her speech is very slurred, and she is yelling at everyone and being extremely rude, which is very unlike her. "We tried to keep her calm, until you got here but she's acting out" the nurse says. Meredith picks Zola up and Alex grabs her backpack, and they walk out of the room. "You have to sign her out" the nurse yells after them. "No time" Alex yells back. "It's going to be okay Zozo mommy's got you" Meredith says. They get her in the car and Alex sits next to her so he can observe her. Meredith races to the hospital and pulls into the ambulance bay. She gets out of the car with the keys still in the engine, but Alex already has Zola in his arms. "Oh my god, Meredith what's going on" April says when she sees them walk in. "Her shunt is malfunctioning' Alex says. April brings them a gurney and they lower Zola onto it. "Mommy I'm scared" she says, but it doesn't sound like that at all. Her speech is so slurred it sounds more like just noises. "It's going to be okay Zo I'm right here I'm not leaving you." "Let's get her up for a CT" April says. As they get out of the elevator they pass Jackson who joins them. "He's still not out of surgery. Do you want me to wait or…" "Get him now" Alex says quickly. Jackson runs off to get Derek while April, Alex, and Meredith get Zola into the CT machine. Meredith puts on a lead blanket so she can stay with Zola and hold her hand.

"What is it Avery" Derek says as his OR door swings open. "You need to come with me right now. They think Zola's shunt is malfunctioning." Derek looks up in shock and freezes. "Go. I'll take over until someone from neuro gets here" Jackson says. Derek hands his instruments to the nurse. "Where is she?" "She's in CT with Mer. Karev is with her too." Derek runs out of the room and takes the stairs two at a time, and doesn't stop running until he gets to the CT room. He throws on a lead blanket and stands next to Meredith. "You're doing great sweetie. Just keep still for a little while longer" he says with a smile. Meredith smiles and nods to keep Zola calm, but when Derek looks at her he can see the fear in her eyes.

Once the scan is finished a nurse comes to take Zola up to a room in peds, so Meredith and Derek go with her. A few minutes later Alex comes in with Zola's scans. "So, her shunt has stopped working as we suspected. It looks like there's some form of blockage, but it's most likely just kinked. I'll go in and repair it, or replace it if I have to." "When can you do the surgery" Derek asks. "Well she had lunch at school today so we're going to have to wait a few hours. We can keep her sedated with meds until the morning, and we'll have someone watching her the whole time in case she starts seizing" Alex says. "Yeah, us. There's no way in hell that I'm going to let some idiot intern watch my daughter" Derek says angrily. "Look, she's going to be fine, okay?" "You don't know that" Derek yells. "Derek!" Meredith says angrily. "You're going to scare her!" Derek rubs his hands through his hair and goes over to Zola's side. "Everything's going to be okay sweetie. Uncle Alex is going to take very good care you of. And mommy and daddy aren't going anywhere" he says with a smile. "I'll come back in a few hours to check on her, and I'll have a resident stop by to run tests." Alex give's Zola's foot a squeeze and gives Meredith a small smile before leaving. Zola tries to say something, and when she hears how slurred her speech is she starts panicking. "It's okay Zozo. Stay calm, don't worry. That's going to go away after the surgery, okay? Just don't talk for now" Meredith says. Derek pulls up two chairs so he and Meredith can sit with her. A few minutes later Bailey and Richard run in. "We just heard" Bailey says. "Her shunt is malfunctioning. Alex is doing the surgery in the morning" Derek says. "Is there anything we can do" Richard says as he looks down at Zola. "No, we're good" Meredith says with a small smile. "Well let me know if you need anything. And you two obviously can have the rest of the day off, and any days off after. Take as long as you need. I know how hard it can be" Bailey says. She walks over to Zola's bedside and pulls out some stickers from her pocket. "I normally give these to Tuck when he's a good boy, but I think these magic stickers need some love from Zola" she says as she puts a few of them on Zola's shirt. This makes Zola smile and she plays with the shiny stickers excitedly. "Have they done her blood work yet?" "No, Alex is sending a resident by soon." "Well I can do it now" Richard says. He takes Zola's blood and has it rushed to the lab by saying it's for Dr. Shepherd's and Dr. Grey's daughter. A lot of the nurses know Zola from her time at the day care and from when she was first brought to the hospital.

Derek and Meredith spend the next few hours sitting with Zola, trying to keep her distracted from the fact she's having surgery. By dinner time Meredith finally steps out, but only to call Maggie. She volunteered to watch Bailey and Ellis for the night so Meredith and Derek could stay with Zola. "Aunt Maggie is going to come by soon with your pjs and some stuffed animals. And then you can say good night to Bailey and Ellis" Meredith says. When Maggie brings them in a little while later, Meredith holds Ellis while Derek helps Bailey sit with Zola in her bed. They read a bedtime story together and Bailey kisses Zola's head before leaving. Derek and Meredith take turns staying up to make sure she isn't having any seizures. When Alex comes in the next morning to prep Zola for surgery they look exhausted. After the nurses take Zola to the OR, Derek grills Alex on his plan for her surgery. Alex has to force them from staying in the OR, but agrees to let them watch from the door window. Meredith and Derek pace outside the window nervously for the entire surgery. Maggie and Bailey are in the OR holding Zola's hands, just as Christina had done for baby Tucker. "He should be done placing the shunt by now" Derek says. "I'm sure he's just making sure it's working" she replies. "I knew this might happen eventually, but I didn't think it was going to be so soon." "85% of shunts have to be replaced within 10 years, you know that." "I know the facts Meredith! It doesn't change the fact that our daughter is in there!" "Don't you think I know that? That I'm not freaking out too? But you need to keep it together, for her sake, because she needs to know that she is going to be fine." "I know, I know" he says as he rubs his hands through his hair and down his face. "She needs to believe that she is going to be fine in order for her to be fine." "I know" Derek says as he hugs Meredith. "She's going to be fine." "She is going to be fine."

After the surgery ends, Zola is taken to the peds PACU and Derek and Meredith rush in as soon as they are allowed to. It takes an hour for the anesthesia so wear off; when she wakes up the first thing she sees is her parents faces smiling down at her. Meredith starts crying a little and Derek cannot stop smiling. "Am I going to be okay" she asks. "You are going to be just fine" Meredith says. "The surgery went perfectly. Uncle Alex said you were the best patient he ever had" Derek adds. "Can I have some ice cream now?" Meredith and Derek both laugh with joy; Zola is famous for her love of ice cream and her asking for it means she's back to her usual self and the shunt is working. "Maybe in a little while honey" Meredith says with a smile. "Can you follow my finger" Derek asks. He does a quick neuro exam to make sure the shunt is working, and smiles even wider when he finishes because the shunt is working perfectly. Alex stops by a little while later and congratulates Zola on being "a super star in my OR." At some point during the day everyone stops by to say hello and bring her a present. April brings her a huge teddy bear, Maggie brings her cards to play go fish, Jackson brings her coloring books, Richard brings her a box of cookies, Arizona, Callie, and Sofia stop by with some pictures and a get well card from Zola's class, and Bailey brings a big box of Legos. Derek goes home to feed Bailey and Ellis but leaves them with Maggie again so he can sleep in Zola's room with Meredith. They watch Zola fall asleep and just listen to the sound of her breathing. Eventually they fall sleep on the couch with Meredith's head on Derek' chest.


	24. Chapter 24

_Edwards is sitting in one of the research labs. The 3D printer is back on and she has complied all the research and information there is on portal veins. She twiddles her thumbs nervously and keeps looking up at the clock._

"Edwards!" Meredith yells when she walks in the room causing Stephanie to jump up in surprise. "Glad you could make it" Meredith says with a smile. "I've compiled all your research from last time and I found a bunch of new articles on how to work with a 3D printer that I thought would be helpful." Meredith walks over to the table and leaves through all the information. "This looks good" she says. "Well, let's get started with…"

 _Earlier that week…_

Meredith bustles around the kitchen while holding Ellis on her hip. "Okay, so the kids are all fed and dressed for the day. I'm taking Zola and Bailey to school and Ellie is all dressed for her doctor's appointment she just needs a change" she says to Derek when he walks in. "I put Bailey's lunchbox in his backpack this time so he won't forget it" he says. "And don't you forget about our date" he adds with a smirk. "I wouldn't miss it" she says as she kisses his cheek. Ellie starts fussing as Meredith walks away so she quickly turns back around to kiss her baby. "You are going to have so much fun with daddy at the doctors" she says in her baby voice. "Don't worry I'll send you pictures" he says with a smile. "Your daddy's my hero" she says to Ellie as she gives her once last kiss. She runs out the door and leaves with the kids for school. "Is everyone buckled" Meredith asks as she pulls out of the driveway. Zola and Bailey both nod, and Zola pulls out her book. "Did you remember to read a chapter last night sweetie?" "No I forgot, so daddy said I should read it to you and Bailey in the car." "That's a great idea Zozo" she says with a smile. Getting to spend time with her kids before she starts her mornings is one of her favorite things.

"I can't get this portal vein stuff out of my head" Meredith says coming up to Kepner at the nurse's station. "Well you did say you wanted to start it again. Maybe now's a good time" April replies. "I don't know, I just have so much stuff going on with the kids…but I do miss it." "How did you make time for surgery after Bailey and Ellie were born?" "Well I didn't really. I just had to figure it out as I went along because you never know when your baby is going to need you or you need to stop in the middle of surgery to pump" Meredith says with a knowing smile. "But I'm sure you'll be fine. And it really helps to schedule all your surgeries and cut back on your on-call time" she adds. "Well that should be easy since I run the trauma department, where everything is scheduled and goes according to plan" April says sarcastically.

"It's 1:15, I was beginning to think you forgot about our date" Derek says as Meredith walks into the on-call room. "I know, I'm sorry. I just got caught up in the ER and my interns have been doing their paper-work all wrong" she replies. She sits down next to him on one of the beds and he pulls her into his lap. "But no more work talk" she adds between kisses. "I couldn't agree more" he says with a playful smile. A while later they are laying in each other's arms. "You're looking very thoughtful" Derek says as he places a kiss on her neck. "I just love you" she says with a smile. "I love you too. And that's why I know you're buttering me up so you can ask me something big!" "I…you...uh, whatever!" Derek laughs at her mumbling and she playful swats at him. "Just tell me what it is, I can handle it" he says seriously. "I want to start my portal vein research again" she says quickly. "I think you should." "You do?" "I promised you a year so you could work on your research and I went back on that promise. I might never forgive myself for that…" "Derek…" "I want to do this for you. For us. This time there will be no interruptions; nothing standing in the way of you and your work" he says with a smile. "Are you sure? Because I don't want to…" Derek leans in and kisses her to make her stop talking. "I am totally sure."

 _Two weeks later…_

"How much longer is the printing going to take?" "A few more hours Dr. Grey. But I don't mind staying here tonight to make sure it prints properly" Edwards says. "Alright, Dr. Edwards. Page me with updates." "Will do" Edwards calls as Meredith walks out of the lab. She gets in her car and drives to Zola's girl scout meeting. "How was it, did you have fun?" "It was great mommy! I got my helping badge today!" "Oh, that's great Zozo!" Meredith starts driving home while Zola tells her all about school and the girls in her troop. Meredith's phone rings and when she answers it Edwards tells her that the vein graft got contaminated so she had to restart the printing process. She told Meredith she would stay up all night to make sure it prints. "Zozo, how do you feel about bringing pizza to a very nice doctor who's helping me with my research project?" "Okay! Can I get pepperoni?" "Of course you can" Meredith says with a smile. Once they pick up the pizza, they head back to the hospital. "Dr. Edwards?" "I'm back here" she answers from the closet. "We brought you a little snack" Meredith says with a smile when Stephani comes out. "Do you like pepperoni? It's my favorite" Zola says. "It's my favorite too" Stephani says. Meredith helps Zola get into a chair and Edwards puts the pizza on some plates. "I love your hair" Edwards says to Zola. "My daddy did it" she replies with a smile. "When I was your age, I wore my hair just like that too." "You did?" "I did! And I can show you some more really pretty ones. That's of course if it's alright with you Dr. Grey" she says nervously. "Of course Edwards. I could always use some new ideas" Meredith says with a smile. She watches happily as Stephani starts showing Zola different hairstyles. Zola starts yawning a little while later so Meredith picks her up to take her home. "What do you say Zola?" "Thank you Dr. Edwards!" "Anytime, Zola" she replies with a smile. "Page me when it's done?" "Will do Dr. Grey."

"How's the research going" Derek asks once Meredith gets Zola to bed. "It is going great" she says with a smile. Derek hands her a glass of wine and she accepts it happily. "This is why I keep you around" she says with a smile. "And I thought it was for my amazing laundry skills!" "Oohh that too" she says with a laugh. Meredith's phone dings, and she sees a text message from Edwards with a picture of the printed portal vein. "Look" she says excitedly as she puts her phone in front of Derek's face. "Very impressive! Oh I forgot to tell you earlier but my mom invited us to her house for Christmas. It would be us, Amy and Owen, and Nancy and her kids." "I pretty sure she still thinks I'm a slutty intern." "She can be a little…yeah that's just Nancy, I'm sorry." "I know. But we should still go it'll be good for the kids to see their cousins." "You amaze me" he says as he kisses her. "I am pretty good" she says with a laugh.

"Did you get the lab results back?" "So far everything is functioning as it should Dr. Grey" Edwards answers. "This sheep might live" Meredith says tentatively. "Oh this sheep is totally going to live!" "Let's not get our hopes up too high Edwards, we still have a lot of work to do. But yes, there is a very good chance this sheep will live" she says with a coy smile. Edwards cheers and puts her hand out for a high five, which Meredith reciprocates after a moment. "Dr. Grey will you mention me in your acceptance speech?" "Acceptance of what?" "Your Harper Avery!" "Dr. Edwards…" "I overheard Dr. Avery talking to Dr. Kepner" she says interrupting Meredith. Meredith looks thoughtful for a moment, like she's trying to decide if she really wants to know what her resident heard, and then says "tell me everything." "Well I heard him say how he has been trying to get his mother to revoke the unspoken rule that someone from this hospital can't win a Harper Avery because he heard that your name is on the short list!"


End file.
